


Verse Sliding

by Verse



Category: RWBY
Genre: Agender Character, Amputation, F/F, F/M, Language Barrier, Multi, Polyamory, Slow Burn, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Trans Girl Ruby, alternative universe, gratuitous jumanji references, non binary blake, the author is a furry: the fic, theverseslidingquest, this is a lot gayer than I remember, transrwbies, urggh i'll add more tags as I post the chapters, what ship DIDN'T I include in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-20 15:34:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 125
Words: 54,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10665627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verse/pseuds/Verse
Summary: Our world is full of surpriseBut it isn’t the only oneThere are other worlds, full of unknown creaturesOf new plants, of magic stonesWorlds following rules different to our’sWorlds no human eyes will ever get to see..Or so it should beYour name is RUBY ROSE. A few minutes ago, you were working on your sister’s bike. Now, you don’t even know where you are.What do you do?





	1. 000

**Author's Note:**

> So, some context.  
> This fic is literally my first fanfic, ever. I wrote it when I was like, 15? In the middle of volume 2. It's the fic that got me into writing, it's the fic that got me my nickname.  
> That fic is not only my doing though: the actions of the characters were decided not by me, but submitted by my readers. I merely wrote out the consequences.  
> It was originally posted there: theverseslidingquest.tumblr.com  
> This fic is old, and carries a lot of flaws due to my lack of experience back then. But I still like it very much. Hopefully, you will to.

You are now RUBY ROSE and you are more than slightly confused. A few minutes ago, it was a normal afternoon of a normal Saturday as you were looking for a screwdriver to repair your sister’s Bumblebee. And now…

Where even are you?

_Please suggest an action._


	2. 001

**> Describe your surroundings. Also check inventory.**

**> Examine your surroundings. What’s in the area with you?**

You open your inventory and take a look at it:

      Spanner x1

      Screwdriver x 1

      Cape x1

      Cookies x20

At least you have your cape. It’s always reassuring.

You spin to see everything around you. There are trees as far as you can see, so you suppose you’re in some kind of forest. It’s funny, because you’ve never seen any tree like this in Puerto Rico. And by funny you mean you’re starting to freak out here.

There are a few rocks on the ground, of various sizes, along with a few bushes, and when you look up, you can see the sky between the leaves. You wonder how tall are those trees. But anyway, the weather seems clear. Good. You don’t feel like getting dripping wet on top of everything else.

Okay, you have a better view of the situation now. What’s next?


	3. 002

**>  Try to remember what happened before you got to this place. Even the little details.**

You don’t think you can remember every single details, but you can try. And that’s what you do.

It was raining. You’re sure of that, because the bottom of your shoes are still wet. You must have walked into a puddle or something. That and also because Yang’s Bumblebee didn’t like humidity and plainly refused to start up this afternoon. Your sister having to work at the Starbucks, she left the house running and asked you to take care of her baby.

That was cool to you. It wouldn’t be the first time you’d have fixed up a bike, after all. Bumblebee was in safe hands with you.

You don’t know how long you’ve worked on her. A long time, probably. It’d stopped raining by the time you were done. Well almost done. You just needed the right-sized screwdriver and you’d finish the reparations with a swift of the wrist.

Except after getting said screwdriver, you never made it back to the bike. You walked toward it, right, but then there was… that thing. You’re not quite sure how to explain it, to be honest. Like a wave of energy in the air. Or electricity, maybe. And the next step you’d taken had ended on green grass surrounded by those huge ruffling trees.

Wait… ruffling?

Ah, no, your bad, it’s something running through the bushes that’s why it makes a ruffling sound- wAIT SOMETHING IS COMING YOUR WAY WHAT SHOULD YOU DO.


	4. 003

**>  Run away! if there is a tree that you climb, climb it!**

**> Climb a tree and hide!**

**>  See if you can scale one of those trees and GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY while still having a good vantage point to see just what’s coming at you**

That looks like the best idea for now. You never know what could pop up in a place like this, after all. You quickly spot the easiest tree to climb and climb it, only stopping when you’re sure you’re high enough to not get spotted in a few seconds. You have a nice view from here, too. Whatever is coming, you’re ready.

**>  Arm yourself with that spanner! Make sure not to lose it, though.**

Almost ready. You grab the spanner and hold it tight in your fist, careful not to lose your balance on the branch you’re sitting on. That thing’s heavy. You’re 100% positive you could break open a skull with it. You never thought it’d actually come out handy one day, though.

**> Describe what is coming after you. If it’s going to attack you get your screwdriver out and use that against it.**

You can’t! It’s not out yet! And can you really say it’s after you? Maybe it just happened to pass by- oh wait it’s finally here.

It looks like... some kind of wolf. Some dark, twisted parody of a wolf, with fur so dark it seems to absorb the very light. It’s big, easily as big as you, and there are patches of white on its fur -maybe thorns? You can’t tell, you’re too far to see well enough.- and it’s general body shape is disgustingly human-like. In short, it looks like a cartoon werewolf mixed with a skeleton monster.

It doesn’t look threatening for now and doesn’t seem to have noticed you either, but you don’t think it’s leaving anytime soon, unfortunately. You guess you’re stuck for now.


	5. 004

**>  Chill out in the tree until whatever that thing is passes. Try not to draw too much attention to yourself.**

Well, that’s an option that can’t hurt, can it?

You make yourself more comfortable and wait. You don’t have a watch, but after roughly half an hour of boredom, a couple others wolf-thingies join the first and they all lay down under a tree next to your’s.

…You probably should have made a move while there was only one monster. Too bad.

**>  We need to check if your semblance still works later. For now, survey the area. Maybe you could throw a branch at something which will distract it, and you can make your gettaway!**

**>  See if you can move along the trees, going branch to branch. Take care not to make noise as it might get the wolf’s attention.**

Semblance?

You are confused. You don’t know why did that word pop up in your head, but you don’t know what it means anyway. You just decide to ignore that.

The rest, however, doesn’t sound like bad ideas. It’s not like you had any other options, anyway.

You quietly break a few branches and throw them away. The wolfthingies react immediately after they hit a trunk. They raise their heads and promptly run toward the source of the noise, growling. Great. Now, it’s your turn to act.

You veeeeery carefully reach for a nearby branch from another tree. It seems solid enough. You jump on it and spend no times before going on another one. You keep going for long enough to have a good distance between you and the thingies, but eventually stop. Your hands are scrapped, your clothes definitively have seen better days and you’re hungry and thirsty, but you are not reduced to wolf food and are away from any apparent threats for now, and that’s what matters.

You quickly check around. The trees seems smaller than earlier, and there’s more light. You think you’re near the edge of the woods.

What do you do?


	6. 005

**>  Check if the wolfthingies are around, you never know if they’re going to pop out of nowhere. If there are none around, jump down try to find a way out of the wood. Also have a cookie to try and fill your empty stomach.**

**> Keep to the trees as long as you can. Just because one threat is not in sight doesn’t mean there aren’t any others. If the edge of the woods is indeed further ahead, survey the area before climbing down, making note of hiding places and escape routes.**

You check above and under you, scanning the floor and listening to any suspicious sounds. It takes you a minute to be sure, but you are positive that there is nothing except you here. You’re still ready to react, though.

You quickly eat your cookie, savouring the sugar in your mouth. You don’t think it’s something you’ll have the occasion to do often, if there are monsters at every corners. You wonder if there is any towns or such nearby where you could seek shelter and answers.

Eh. Resting and questioning time over. Moving on.

**>  Try to see what’s at the edge of the forest. Stay in the trees if you can.**

Unfortunately, you don’t think you can. The trees seems younger as you go, and you don’t know what you’ll do if a branch happened to break under your steps. You decide to go down, but to take note of any potential hiding places and escape routes on the way.

It takes you a few minutes of walking, but you were right; the edge of the forest is right here.

Past the woods, you can see what looks like a large field; there’s dust, little rocks, big rocks, bushes, grass, stuff you’re not quite sure you’re identifying, everything like before, but without the trees. There are huge moving things in the distance, and a couple smaller thingies closer to you, but other than that you don’t notice anything else noteworthy. It’s obvious there isn’t any immediate threats to you here.

Now, which path should you chose? Back to the woods, or in the overdrawn field?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm editing the worse stuff but y'all don't know how hard i'm cringing at this


	7. 006

**>  We know there’s danger in the woods - we don’t know about the open. So logically there’s a chance at staying alive and also adventure by going into the field. But still be on your guard so far the only thing you’ve met has probably wanted to eat you.**

**> Oh dear, thingies… go to the overdrawn field, because while there is less cover, it will be harder for something to ambush you. Do you notice any landmarks or anything that can help you determine where you are?**

**>  Stay to the forest, the field offers little to no protection from monsters. Keep searching for a town, yes, but more importantly, search for a river or something. Towns generally are built close to water sources, aren’t they? If you DO find one, follow it, but not too closely. The wolf-things, or possibly other kinds of monsters, may come there to drink.**

Two against one. Guess you’ll go for the field then. Though, you’ll still look for any rivers and more generally sources of water. It sounds like a good start to search towns.

You should probably start walking. With a smile. Come on, it’s like an adventure! Right?

~~No it’s not where’s everyone where are you you’re scared help.~~

You try not to go too fast to not exhaust yourself and swing your head to look around. The few animals you see are either far away or moving when you’re getting closer to them. You suppose they don’t want to be attacked either.

After what seems to be an eternity and probably was a few hours anyway, judging by how low the sun is, you finally see something out of the ordinary boring treeless landscape.

It’s a house.

Obviously old, covered of wines and plants, with some holes and cracks on the walls and roof, but still a house.

You feel your heart jump in your chest and you run toward the habitation. When you say house, you say shelter! Place for the night! Water! Maybe even inhabitants and explanations! Yeay!

However, when you’re close enough to reach the broken door-handle, you hear... you hear... the quietest, tiniest whimper coming from inside. You pause. ...Do you really want to know what made that noise?


	8. 007

**> Check for danger first. That’s what you learned at school, right? Immediate danger first, then assess the situation. Any windows? Check those first. Then go inside, unless we deem it too dangerous.**

Right. You take a big breath and looks around the house. Eventually, you find a couple windows. However, they’re too dusty and cracked to see correctly through them. But for what it's worth, you don’t think you’ve seen anyone inside.

**>  Quietly call out to whatever may be in there. Speak in soothing tones. Be as non-threatening as possible.**

_“Is there anyone here?”_

…

…

…

There is no answer.

**>  Cautiously check it out. You might meet a new friend. Either way, you may still need the shelter.**

**> Yes, you do. However, do not go in there without being ready for something to jump at you. Who knows, it might be crocodile tears.**

You carefully crack the door open, holding firmly your spanner. You don’t see anything at first, the light decreasing slowly but surely. But another whimper indicate you where to look and you see… something.

You don’t see well enough to identify it, but you can say without any doubt that it isn’t like anything you’ve been expecting,. It's not a human, but not a monster either. In fact, it’s small, like a pillow, sausage-shaped, and is curled into a shaking ball.

It seems to tense a bit when you take a further step inside, but beside that, it doesn’t move an inch. You don’t think it’s hostile.

Sounds like you’ll have a roof for the night, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyy Zwei


	9. 008

**> Return outside of the new place. Throw a rock,somewhere close enough for the strange creature found to hear, but far enough to lead it away from the current position-in case it is a dangerous beast.**

You do that. The creature raises its head lazily, and you blink in surprise. It’s…

**>  Cautiously approach.**

You can’t believe it. Not after everything you’ve seen. But you take a slow step toward the shaking animal, another, ignore the weak growl coming from its throat, and….

Yeah, you were right.

It’s a dog. A corgi, more exactly. A tiny, fluffy walking sausage.

Oh God yes.


	10. 009

**>  Be wary of the dog. It may be adorbleohemgeeyou'vejustgottoloveonitandhugittodeath, but it’s still an animal and it feels threatened. Threatened animals are dangerous animals.**

Right. The first thing you should do before anything is to make the threatened animal feels unthreatened, not being overly affectionate. After surviving big wolfy monsters, it’d be dumb to get hurt because of a simple dog.

You crouch down in front of the animal, but don’t approach further. The dog keeps growling at you for a few minutes, but doesn’t attack. Eventually, it stops and lowers its head again. You think it’s assuming that you won’t attack it.

**>  petthepuppypetthepuppydoiiiiit *with a mild amount of caution, don’t want our hand bitten off***

**>  try to restrain yourself…. Oh fuck it PET THE DOG!**

Slowly, you approach a hand toward its head, ready to pull away if needed. The puppy doesn’t react. When you make contact with its messy fur, it tenses up, but eventually relax not long after you started petting it. As your palm runs through its fur, you notice that one of its leg is bleeding.

It’s probably still wary at you, but now you’re sure that it won’t attack you for no reasons. That’s a start.


	11. 010

**>  We all know what we need to do here. Let’s fix up our new furry little friend. First, look around to see if there’s to ease his mind, like food or water. Then check his wound.**

**>  Is there any way possible you can make the corgi comfortable? While you’ve made contact, it doesn’t mean it completely trusts you just yet. We want to heal that leg - a dog can be a great comforter on a journey like this.**

You don’t like the sound of it -it’s like you’re merely using this dog for your own sanity- but it’s true; you don’t want to think about it, but if it isn’t actually a dream and you’re really in some unknown place alone and full of monsters, even someone as socially awkward as you will need some company.

You have a quick look around you. It’s much darker, but you can still guess some shapes here and there -a desk, a closet, a chest, some… things hanging from the ceiling, some buckets- oh, sweet, they’re full of water!

You cautiously grab a bucket, careful not to trip. ...Okay yeah no this won’t work. Too heavy. You pat around. At some point, you grab something that feels like a bowl, and you fill it with water before coming back to the dog and setting it in front of the animal.

You keep patting around as you hear it drink, and your hand eventually land on something furry and scruffy. A quick examination informs you that this isn’t another animal, but some kind of blanket. You take it and put it over the dog.

There. Make the corgi comfortable? Check. What’s next?

**>  Call out Zwei’s name softly and calm the little cute dog down so you can stop his leg from bleeding by ripping your cape up wrap it. Also give a cookie to Zwei, that poor baby must be hungry.**

_Zwei._

You don’t know where does the name come from -you’ve never heard the word before, never met the dog before- but it just feels right and you know it’s the perfect name for it.

_“Zwei.”_

You call out its name several times. Slowly, but surely, it relax completely and stops eyeing at you every now and then as if it wanted to be sure you weren’t preparing the pan to cook it with. If it was a cat, it’d probably purr.

Okay. Time for the healing part now.

You go slow in order to avoid making Zwei panic. Clean the wound; tear off some bits of your loyal cape; bandage the leg; you aren’t quite sure if you did everything right, but for the most part, you think it could have been worse -especially in the dark and without your sister to guide you.

You glance outside; the full moon shine brightly, but not enough to make you feel safe in the darkness. In the distance, you can hear howlings you  easily imagine as belonging to the wolfthingies.

You’re sore and tired.

You slip under the blanket, next to Zwei, and curl into a bawl on the bare floor, closing your eyes.

It doesn’t take long for sleep to get you.

**_End of day one._ **

_What should you do when you wake up?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> don't feed baked goods to doggies


	12. 011

You wake up with a yawn and the faint hope that everything was just a dream. But nope, if the dog next to you wasn’t enough, the painful remember from your back that you truly slept on the floor metaphorically screamed ‘HAHA NOPE YOU’RE STILL STUCK HERE SORRY NOT SORRY’.

Urgh.

**>  Firstly, check outside the windows to make sure there’s no reason to be extra quiet. If there isn’t, be quiet anyway. There might be something behind the house, or just out of sight. Second, check on Zwei’s leg. Relax him, first, though. Don’t want him to snap at you.**

You have a quick look through the windows. You can see a couple… boar-like black-and-bones things not too far away, but as long as you aren’t excessively loud you think it’ll do. Not an excuse to not try to stay quiet, however.

Zwei is still sleeping, but its leg seems in a slightly better shape than yesterday. You’re quite proud of yourself, to be honest.

Okay. What’s next?

**>  When you wake up, if the lighting outside is better, take a proper look around the cabin. Salvage anything of use that you can carry, and make sure Zwei is okay. Search for any signs of recent habitation, and see if you can find out why Zwei was there in the first place. Oh, and if there are any dead people in the building, try not to scream or otherwise make any loud noises, but leave soon. Corpses attract animals looking for meals, and better a dead one than a living one.**

**>  Wake up and see if there’s a place to do your morning rituals. Nothing sucks worse than starting a day with an icky mouth and stomach cramps. You might also find other supplies you can use.**

**>  When you wake up, take immediate stock of our surroundings. Make sure nothing else has decided to make its way inside. If the coast is clear, take a better look around our shelter. Are there other rooms? Are there any items we can use as weapons (maybe with better reach than the spanner), is there any food we can take with us?**

There is only one room, so you are done with the exploration quickly. Most of the items here seems to be made out of fur or bones, it’s kind of creepy. After some rummaging here's what you take:

  *     Dried meat (x15)
  *     A blanket
  *     An old-looking notebook
  *     Some clothes that happened to be your size (a red skirt with a shirt, it’s way more comfortable than your torn-off overalls)



The rest seems either useless or too damaged. Whoever lived here left a while ago, you think.

(They left. By themselves. On purpose. You’re sure of that. ..You don’t want to think about the implications if it wasn’t the case.)

_“Bark!”_

Oh, look who just woke up.

You spend the next hour taking care of yourself, sharing the meat you couldn’t take with you with Zwei, cleaning yourself up, -what a shame you didn’t find anything to carry the water- and so on.

Now, you’re ready.


	13. 012

**>  Flip through the notebook**

**> Read the notebook, it may explain what happened to the previous owner. Also, if we can’t carry water, let’s remember to take a deep drink before leaving.**

The notebook is obviously old, a bit torn off, and downright unreadable on some parts, but you do your best. You’re curious.

_Oz̵_in̴’͘s̨ ̨di̢aŗy_

_D̫͖̜a̠̱͓̤y͔̳͈̳̮̯͔͘ ͓̜͉̥͠t͇̫̮̬͖̞͙ḫ̴̹̥̫̮̟r̞ee̵̹̣̩.̩͝_

_̼͈̣͍I̲̱͎̯ͅ ͍̳s͞t̳͙̠̠͈ͅo̠̯͚̰͇p̮̬͍͈͈̹͢p̭͈̳͇̭̙͎e̻̟̗͙̲d̟̺̭ ͎͈͎͙̣͖̼͘b̸e̜͚̱̳̖̤̱i̶̱̜̥̟͚̮n̺͝g͜ ̣̬̰̺̜̪̳į̗̬̦̯ͅṉ̥̹̩̹ ̞de̼͙̖̻͉̱͚n҉̩̖͙̳̦̞i̶̤͔̯a̜̭̳̭̺͚l:͇͚͈̜̳͙͘ ̱̱͖͈͍̭͍n̤̩͕͈o̱͓ ̲͚̭͈̳̹̻m̼̟͡a͏̤t͟te̗̞̤̦ͅr͇̟̬͕̯ ҉̯͇̙͈̟w̷̭̝̳̳h͈̰at ̱̙̰̪̮͇̳iͅs̛ ͖t̗̦̲̬̤̝̪ḩ̘̻̣̖̙ͅi̗̪̰̭̦s͍ ̴̼̣p̩̘͓l̷͇a͔ç̗̟̻e͖̯̥̪,̢̮̰̤͉ ͕͙̫i̧̯̻̪͙̝̝t̫̬̩͙’̘s̴̺̙ ̺͇̱̹re͏̰͕a͔l.͕͙̩͚ͅͅ ͖̭̦̟̤̦̰F̕r̢̪͚̻̠o̤̩̘͘m̫̹̜ ̻͎̼͘n̲̻̗̳͈ow͖̼͈͍ ̙̖̙I̜͔̯̥̠̱͝ͅ’͍̹͔ͅl͖̭̣͇̬l͖̮̗ ̥͔̥͚̬ͅơ̭̰n̩͚̗͟l̪͖̻̤̦̮͟y̸͉̹ ͈͖̟̺͈̫r̗͔e̘̹͖c̜͔̱͟o̝̯̞̺̬r̼̺͘d̤̘̯ ̯ͅh̼̟͎̱̪̦e̷r̰͎̞͟e̸ ̳̭͔͖͙t̪̟̪͍͞h͉̝̪̠̩i̞̭ͅn̛̰̯̩g̯͝s ̩̜̠͚͚̫̺͠t̼̝͈͔̰̠̙̕h҉͎̝͙̲a̵̯̪͇̪̮̦͕t̯̪͡ ͍̖̝͈͙̼̖m̢̞̼̫i̙͎̼ͅg̪̞̺͠h̻t̠̬ ̲̰̖b͏̭̟e̛̘ ̗̞̪̠̘r͓̩̤̭̺ͅel̶͚̗e̛̗͎͎v͔a̩͈͚͠n̜̹̟t̴͙̤̣͓̥ ͈͙͈t͇͈̝͉̬o̴͚͚̳͇ ̬̫̣͍̼m̵͉͇̖̺̥ͅy҉̭̼̖̭͖ ̠̬s̼̤u̠͇̟̞r̙̰v҉̞iv͇̼̞͖͉͈̠a̠̳̳̼͖l̙̩̖͈͍̼.͍͇̺̥̰̦̖ ͙̹̗̹͎̦P̝̜̯͔̥͞a̻͖͚p͎̩̱̳̰e̺r i̗͖̪̫͠ͅs҉͚ ̰̗̹͉̼͜s̡̪̱̹c̙͈͟a̩̳̭͖r̮͡c̕ͅe͍͚͓̙ ̗̣̟̳̤͓͇a̰̦̫̳̹̼nḑ̘ ̙͙͓̭̙̯I̢͈̪ ̧̟͈c̱̖̤̤̰̜̝an̦͓̯̱̫’̙̮͕̻̞̻t҉̮̼̩ ͔̭̜̗̤̱̜af̦̟̺f̮͚͎̹̮̖o͓̲̰̙̹̰͎r̢̖̱̹ḍ̹̣̳͢ ͜w̪̩̝͈̪̣̗a̳s̜̗̯̖̳̝ͅț̡̣̫̜̪̝i̙͍n͖̦̭̟͟g̺̹̤͓̱̦ ͕̠̪̘̖͓i̖̠̥̝̳̭͍͜t͕̟̬.̳_

..God you didn’t expect the text to be this fucked up that quickly. You hope the rest is better.

_D̶ay ̶f̵ive҉._

_F͜rom m͏y obs͝e̵rv̕atio̕ns, t͜h͡er͠e is̕ t̵wo̡ t̸y͘pe͟s̕ of҉ ̶cr͠eat̢ure҉s h̨e͘re:͟_

_̕-c͝o̶mm̢o͏n̡ a̸nimals̶, s͜uc̵h ͟a̵s͞ dogs ͡or b͜ir͟ds͝, ͡that ͡we͜ ͡can s͜e̸e i͝n our ҉wo͝rld ̛t͝ơo_

_҉-̨th̡e b̵o̢ne҉y ͝m̵o̢n̴s͝t͏ers͝_

_t҉he͟ ̴l͘at҉t̨er do͏n’t̴ ̨seems to ̨nee̛d t͞o ̢eat. ͞Wh̴ile they̧ g͢ơ a̛f͝t̛eŗ ̴m͢e͜ ͝e͡v̷er͢y͘ ti͏m͏e͞ ̶t͢he͠y͡ ͠can, I͝’̨ve ͟n͜ev͏er s̨e͏e̶n̴ t͠h̢ey̢ f̵i͢gh̛t͏ ̵wi̡th n̨orm̷a̧l ̶an̕ima̸ls̸ ͡e̶x͟p̴e̡c͠t ̸f͢o̢r terr̶i҉to͜ri̵es̡ ̶ma҉tters͜. ͡W̨e͢ir͟d.̢.._

Ah, better. Nice.

_D̨ay̴ ̢͠e̶i̷҉g̕ht̛._

_Sǫ͠me̴͘͜t͟h͠͏iņ̕͏g̡̡ ̕͡į͜s̷̕ h̴͝ap̡p͝e͟͠ni͏̵͠n̴̢͜g ̴͞t͞o̷̡͡ ̧͢m͘͟e.̸ I͞ ̡d̷o̸n̷’̢t k̶n͡o̷̢w͟ ̢i̶͝f̴͢ ҉i͘t͝ ̨i͜͝s̷ ̡̡͝go̵̧o̷͜͠d̴ o͠͞r͏͘ ̶̡b͘a͏̨d̶.̶ ͘͝I̧͘̕t̡’̨s͞ ͠l̸i̴͟͜k̴̵e̡͝ ̴a͠ ͟͞d̸o̡͡o͜r͡ ̷̨͟i̶n͜ m͜͞y̨ so̶͠u͏̴l҉ ̷̷̷j̛us͢t̸ ҉̷o̴̧p̸͠e͏n̛ȩd̸͡ a͢͜nd̵̷͡ a͏nd͠ ̡somȩthing ca̡me͠ ̴out̵ ͞o҉f ̧it̕.̷ ̷Wh͏at͏ev͝er͘ ̴i̵t̢ ̷i̕s, ̨i̧t̸ pro̡tec̷t͞ed mȩ aga҉i͟nst the͏ ͘B̡o͠n̕e҉y͟s.̸ ̴K̴in̷d o̸f ̵li͟k͜e͜ ͞a ̡f͢o̕rce͟fiel͡d.͠ I̢ sus̸pec͜t ͝it t͏o ͢al͡s͢o be͠ the reason why some of my wounds heal up so quickly. I’ll have to investigate._

_D̷̛͡͝a̢͟͡y̷̧͟͠ ̢̢͞t̴͜ȩ͟͠n̴҉.̡͞͏͡_

_͜T̴͠h̶͢͡į̕͢͠s͠ ̵̨̛͟i͢͏̸͡s̸̨̕͞ ͏̸̵s̶̨͠o͟҉͝ ̢͢͝w̴̧͡ę̢͠i̕͜͡r̨̛͜d̷҉̴̸̢.̡͘̕͝ ̨͏͡W̸̛̕͡h̡͡ą̵̸͠t҉ ̸̸̕͝i̵͘͢͝s̢ ̷̕͠i̧̡̛t̴͘͠?̧͡͏ ̴͢͡͞҉I̸̢͘͠t͏͝’̷̨͡ş̧ ̶̢͢l̴̢͜͠͠i̴̷̶k̡̕̕͘e̴͢͠͏̢.̨̛̕ ͏̢͡A͢ ̡̡͜s̕̕͢u̡͡͠p͜͢ȩ̴r̢̛͏h͢͜͞ư̕͟͡m̸̢͟͡͞a͘͜n̷҉̡ ͟a̷͘b̷̧͞͠͏i͡ļ̶͘i̡̛͘͠t̵͘͠y̶̴͡.̷̴͠ ͜҉W̵̛͜h͢͏a̷̸t̛?͞͠ ̸̨͜W͠͝h̷͢y̡̨͡͞?͢͜͞ ̕҉I̴̛̕͞s̕͡ ̶̕i̷̧t҉͡ ͞͠r̢͜͠͝e̢̡l͟͜͟ą̶̧͠t̶̡̡̕͘e̶̡͟͞d̢҉ ̧҉͟͝t͢o̸͡ ̨͠t͜h͞͏e̸͘ ̛͞ơ̢̡͏th̸͟͏e̶r̢̧ ͏̡̕̕t̵̢͢h̵͘̕͏͜i̧̢̢͢͡n̛͡g̴̕͠?͟͢͞ ̛͏A̶̡͜m͡҉̷̢͞ ̵͟I̵̶͞ ̨͞g̕͡o͟͡i̴͟n̴͢͝͠g̴͟ ̧̛͜͞͝i̷ņs̸̛͟͏a͏͏̶̴̡n̸̶͢͠ȩ҉?̶̶͞͡ ̵I ̛͡d̷͏̢̧o̶͟ņ̸̵̛͞’͢͞t҉̸̡͡ ̵̸̨̢̡u҉̸n̵͡҉̵d̸̢e̢͘r͡͝͏̵̛s͏̷̶̴t̵̸̕͏a̸͏̨̕n̷̶̡̨̧d̢.̸̶̷̷͘_

_D͖̿ͩ͂̈͛ͥ̈ä̠̭̫̉ͅȳ̺͕̪̹͓͎ ̱͓̝̖̱̹ͪ̈́̾f̅̄̾͑̀̅o̝̮̘͓̪̣̠ṳ̩̰͇̗ͤ͌ͭ̾͛r̼͚̪̳̳̅̋ͣ̈́̊̽t̠̝e̤͔̳̤̭͒̈́e͓̻̰̻͒̓n͓̙.̭̬̹͚̀ͣ̑̏̌̍̈_

_O̷th͝er̨s p̡e̶ople c̢a͘me̴ in͏. ͞Amer̨i͏c̢a̷n̛s͜. ͟T̷͟a̵̧͘̕l̢̡͠͠k͏̵̸͘e͞͡͞d̷̴͡.̛͠͝ ҉A̵̡͜͠n̵͠i̢͢m̡̢͜a̡҉l̸͞͡͝ ̧̧͢͡p̴̕͝a̧̡͜r͡͏̸̛t̸̷̨̢͝s̢͞҉̡ ̵̕͠p̴̵͘͘ǫ͜҉̕pp̶̸̶̡͠i̴̧̛n̴̶͢g̢̕̕͜ ̧͏͟u̕͝͞p̵̸͜͡ ̧͞͞͞ơ͠n̵̕͘͘͜ ̡͟s̵̛̛͟om̵͟͝͠e̢̛ ̸̡͘o̶̸͡f̸͜ ̴͜u̴s̴͟,͡͠͏ ̢̕ţ̶̧͢h̡͞e̸͏y̸̶̷̢ ̡͜͢sa̧͢͝͡i͜d̵͟͢͜.̵ ̧̨͞ M̧̛a̷y͘͟ ͜b̨̢e ͠r̡͜ȩla̷̕t͘͡e̸d to th̷e ͝two ҉other t͟h҉i͘ng͏s.̴ L̵ea͠v͏in͡g ͜w̧i̸th t̸h͝em.̕ Gon̵n҉a s҉eęķ ͟answ̨er͝s. ͏L̕eavi͜ng t̷hę diary̛ ̨he͞re, ͜in ҉case ͟i̴t̕ mįgh̶t hȩl̢p s͢ǫmeo͜ne͝ ̨o͢ut̕. I͏f y̶o͟u̡ r͝e͏a͡d̕ ͝t̕hi͠s̸. ̕G̷oo̧d ̵l̛uck͞._

The rest is too damaged to read. There’s a rough map of the region at the end, along with some drawings of various creatures -including the wolfthingies- and some notes about their behaviours and habits.

Well. That was a thing.


	14. 013

**>  Well. Definitely take that book with you.**

As awfully cryptic as it was, it might become handy later. At worst you can just drop it if it becomes a burden, you guess-

You feel something in the air, for a split second. It makes your body hair raise. It was like… a wave. A wave of energy. 

You don’t like that.

**>  Thank you Ozpin! You know more now and can proceed with more caution, but let’s get outside and get our bearings. See if you can climb to the top of the shelter to extend your view.**

You have a quick peek outside. It’s clear. You pick up Zwei and proceed to climb on top of the cabin. From here, you can see everything.

On the south, there’s the woods you are from, and nothing apparent. On the east, a small pack of boarthingies. The north seems to lead to some mountains, with a pack of.. moving things in front of them, but too far away to see. On your west, a goat peacefully munching on the grass, and further, a couple of black and white things that looks like they’re fighting.

Which direction should you choose?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And on page 13, naive lil me mentioned offhandedly a goat in the background, unaware of the absolute flooding of memes I would receive because of it.


	15. 014

**> Go to the goat!**

**>  West, towards the goat. Get the goat. Keep the goat. Start an animal sanctuary.**

You jump down the roof and set Zwei down. It runs around a bit, but doesn’t look like it wants to leave you alone. You guess it’d officially joined your group now.

You walk in the direction of the goat, which makes a goat noise and moves away from you lazily. You don’t think you’ll be able to get the goat. Too bad. Adios, animal sanctuary.

**>  Black and white things! If they’re busy fighting each other, they may not notice you and allow you to get by easier. Also, the only obstacle there is a goat, and I think we can take on one goat if it turns rabid.**

You’re getting closer each steps to the strife, but none of the combatants seems to have noticed you. You think you’ll bee able to sneak-wait a second.

There’s a mostly-black thingy that appears to have the upper hand, but you don’t really care about it. However, the mostly-white thingy it’s fighting…

Oh God.

It’s a girl.


	16. 015

**>  Check Inventory!**

Roger!

  * dried meat x15
  * cookies x18
  * old clothes
  * spanner x1
  * screwdriver x1
  * notebook x1



**>  Now is no time to be distracted by this girl’s captivating beauty. Equip your trusty spanner. Be the knight in shining armor. Or, rather, mechanic in red-hued combat skirt.**

**>  HELP THAT GIRL! You can’t find a pretty girl like her anywhere! Help her! Pounce onto that black creature and stab it in the eye with that screwdriver!**

You don’t take the time to have a good look at whoever it is. You don’t take the time to think about a plan either. You take your spanner, your screwdriver, and run.

You pounce on the back of the creature and stab it in the eye, making it roar in pain. You’re about to hit it with the spanner, but it rolls on its back first, crushing you under it’s weight for a second, before going back on its feet and charging you.

So that’s it. That’s how you die. Killed by a boarthingy because you couldn’t stop yourself from playing the h-

Your internal monologue is stopped when Zwei tackles the creature and the girl in white promptly stab it in the stomach with what appears to be a broken fencing sword.

Oh.

That was... badass as hell.

There’s a moment of silence. None of you do anything but stare at each other, relief and disbelief written on both your faces. You still can't believe, in this completely empty place, in the middle of nowhere, you managed to find another breathing human being.

You snap first, jumping on your feet to hug the stranger, who stiffens the second you touch her.

_“Oh god oh god oh god thank you I really thought I was going to die here on the other hand I didn’t think I’d ever run into anyone else-”_

You stop taking when the girl pushes you away with a confused look. You freeze when she speaks up and suddenly understand the problem.

_“Ähm, danke … Aber wer sind Sie?”_

Oh frickitty fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oops


	17. 016

**> Danger is no longer imminent. Proceed to be captivated by this girl’s beauty and also her badassery.**

You can’t. You are too busy being captivated by this girl’s beauty and badassery. A thin and almost royal face, hair white and flowing in the wind in a sideway ponytail, reflecting the light, a skin that seems as soft as a peach, and damn, those muscles!

…You probably should stop staring now.

**>  Check if both of you and Zwei are ok. She’s German so let’s try and attempt to speak German to her! Ask her if she is ok by saying “Bist du ok?”.**

You dig into the farthest and less important parts of your memories to remember a line from an old german movie you’ve watched with Yang once -without subtitles, duh, it’d have been too easy.- You decide to use it, with luck it’d be understandable.

_“Bist du ok?”_

She looks at you like what you asked was stupid, which, admittedly, kind of is. You notice that the left side of her face is bleeding. You give an awkward laugh and use your cape to clean the wound -it looks superficial, thankfully. You ask the question again. She rolls her eyes, but nods. You then proceed to check on Zwei. The doggo's okay. Good.

**> Also try and introduce yourself and Zwei.**

**> Okay, okay, you can work through this logically. Wave and smile, the Earthly language for friends and peace. She doesn’t know who you are, so maybe that’s what she asked. Point to yourself and say “Ruby”, point to Zwei and say “Zwei”. Then ask for her name.**

Sounds logic. You first point at yourself. “ _Ruby_.” Then at the dog chasing its tail. “ _Zwei_.” Then at her, tilting your head. She seems to get it.

_“Weiss.”_

That’s a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spot the White Rose shippers


	18. 017

**>  Point to her, then yourself. Then make the motions of two figures walking with both of your hands to ask if she wants to travel together.**

You do that. She stares at you a second, then sighs and nods. She doesn’t seem happy with it. Too bad.

**>  Motion for her to follow you. You guys can go back to the cabin and use the water you left there to clean her face better.**

You pull on her sleeve and point to the cabin in the distance. She appears to get it and follow you as soon as you start walking. However, she isn’t silent like you thought she’d be.

_“You English?”_

Her accent is weird, but understandable. You nod.

_“I speak a little. Don’t using complicate words sentences and it is okay.”_

….Niiiiice. You won’t have to rely only on hand gestures then.

You push open the door of the shelter again and ask her to sit down. She makes a face, but does so. You drop the tip of your cape in the water before sitting in front of her to clean her wound better. It’s shallow. It’ll probably leave a scar, though. She stays quiet the whole time, her gaze going around the room.

**> Offer the beauty before you some of that dried meat you’re carrying around. It will make an excellent peace offering and will help smooth the process of a potential romantic relationship that you may or may not wish to pursue later down the line. And then, take a look around again. Try to find landmarks. And keep an eye out for that goat, goats give milk and are edible. And cute.**

Speaking of which, you didn’t see that goat on your way back. That’s a shame. If you’d managed to catch it it would’ve been a great addition to your team.

_“Hungry?”_

You offer her a piece of meat. Her eyes narrow, but after a few seconds she grabs it quickly and shove it into her mouth, chewing with difficulties. You wonder when was the last time she ate.

Well, now that you’re all comfy and safe, it’s now or never if you have questions for her. Otherwise, just choose a direction to go to. Your choice.


	19. 018

**>  Check inventory first, so that we know what everyone is carrying.**

Ruby:

Weiss:

**> Then, ask her how long she’s been here, and if, aside from the bone monsters, she’s seen anything odd around here (Make sure to specify that you mean besides the bone monsters, something tells me she’s snarky as Hell, as well as a love interest).**

_“Some hours.”_

She doesn’t seem to understand the second question. You try again with some synonymous. She looks jaded a second, then thoughtful, and after a couple more seconds, she opens her mouth again.

_“Explosion. Little one.”_

...well that's not what you were expecting.

You ask for more details. She tells you she doesn’t know. She points at her shoes, then mimes rubbing them on the floor. She tells you it happened when she did that. Huh. You decide to keep that information in mind.

You ask if there is anything else. She shakes her head. You don’t insist.

**> And try to draw a map based on the surroundings that the two of you know. That should help a little.**

You would, if you had anything to draw with. Luckily, you don’t need to. You quickly flip the pages of Ozpin’s diary until you find the part full of maps. With her help, you can determinate which one represent your region. There’s the forest in the south, cliffs on the east, nothing apparent on the north and west part. You suppose it’s still grass grass bushes in those directions.

**> Ask her how she’s feeling soon, too, if she’s feeling more pain than she should.**

She shakes her head again and tells you she is fine. She also angrily tells you to stop worrying, she won’t drop dead because of a scratch, thank you.

You don’t push the issue.

**> Ask her, “Why are you here?” and “Where are you going?”**

She gives you A Look. She tells you something in German, and you can tell by the tone that it's probably sassy and insulting. Then she tells you in English that she doesn’t know. It’s easy to guess that she really want to call you stupid for those questions.

**>  Ask her if she knows how she got here. I know you don’t know, and it’s unlikely she will, but asking will also convey to her that you’re not at fault for anything, which she may be thinking. Or may not, you do look kinda pathetic.**

She shrugs. She tells you she was walking, and then she was here. She doesn’t have explanations either.

After a pause, though, she mimes a wave with her hand and tells you she felt that before ending here. Definitively something to keep in mind.

She asks you a few questions as well, and you answer with your best abilities and lots of frustrated misunderstandings from both sides -how did YOU get here, where, is this cabin your’s, how did you find it, how did you find Zwei, what are your weapons…- and when she’s done it’s around noon.

Any other questions? Or should you leave already?


	20. 019

**>  Eat a little, offer her a cookie, have a drink, and ask if she wants to go explore. Maybe you can look for that goat?**

Done. She makes a -probably snarky- comment in German when she sees just how many cookies you have, but she still takes one. After a minute of bickering and not understanding anyone mean, you both agree that you two should explore, if only to look for an explanation about your presence here. That’s settled. **  
**

**>  Ask her where she thinks they should go, based on the map. It may also be wise to let Zwei weigh in.**

**>  Ask Weiss if she has any preference on where to go. In the meantime, try to see if you can see anything resembling cliffs from where you are. If you do, there may be a path going up the cliff, or it may just be a cliff that will kill you both if you try to climb it. It’s a mystery. Oh, and ask if she’s killed anymore of those things.**

You let her observe the map and pet Zwei to decide where to go and go climb on the roof again. You look east. ..You don’t know how far are those cliffs, but too far for you to see, that’s sure. You look west. …You’ve found the goat. And the giant snake curled around its corpse. Ew. You go back down and inform your… friend? Partner? Companion? about the snakethingy and how you probably shouldn’t go west. With a sigh, she points the North on the map, and you simply nod. Sounds like the best solution for now. 

You pack up your things, check on her injury one last time, and ask if she’d killed any more of those things before leaving. She shakes her head. Sounds like your both newbies in the art of killing monsters. You hope it won’t be the death of you. 

You step outside and go straight North. You’re silent for most of the trip. Sometimes, a thingy appears a bit too closely for comfort, but thanks to Zwei you can spot them early enough to avoid them. You don’t think you can handle another fight today anyway. By the end of the day, a few trees have started popping up here and there, not enough to make a forest but definitively announcing different landscapes ahead. You didn’t find any other shelters, though, and there is no hint of civilization around. You should probably set your own camp for the night. 

_How do you do that?_


	21. 020

**>  Ask Weiss what she would’ve named the goat. Pester her until she caves and gives you a name.**

She doesn’t seem to understand. After a couple more tries, synonymous, and mimes, you give up. You don’t think it’s important. Aw man. Language barrier sucks. **  
**

**>  Camping, eh? Look around for a clearing, we’ll need somewhere relatively dry and not overgrown. Even better if the area is elevated and/or have sand. Pick up anything you can use for tinder and firewood while you look for a campsite.**

You start looking around, but Weiss grabs your arm and point at the trees. She tries to tell you something you don’t understand. She curses in German with growl in frustration. She mimes climbing. For some reasons, she doesn’t want you on the ground. You suppose it’s perfectly legit considering what runs on it in this place. **  
**

**>  Look at the kinds of trees. If they’re large, with many branches and green leaves, then climb a tree and cuddle with the girl to share warmth (Legit advice, not a shipping thing). Use your cloak (If it’s dry) to stay warm with her. If they’re bare, or you can’t climb them, or there aren’t large enough branches for the two of you, start looking on the ground for branches and build a lean too. And curse whatever cruel God that rules over this hellish place for killing the goat. Silently.**

Those trees aren’t nearly as tall as they were back in the woods, but they’d do. One of them, in particular, seems to be tougher and bigger than the others. You climb on it easily and help your friend to do the same. She has more troubles, however. You suppose she’s more the kind to sit inside and read than to run outside and climb. 

You wrap your cape around the both of you and cuddle her. She tenses a bit at first, but quickly relax. Not the physical type either, apparently. You curse whatever god threw you here and killed that goat before slipping into a deep sleep. … .. . _  
_

_You are now dreaming._

You don’t know where you are. It’s all dark. You don’t see anything, and for a second you think you’re the only one here, until you eventually here a noise.

It’s…. a tickling clock? 

You start walking in the direction of the noise. For a long time, it appears to be useless, all your surroundings staying black and free of anything that could give you an idea about where you’re going, but eventually you see something standing out in the distance. 

You start running. 

…Yep. 

That’s a clock. 

And a big one. 

You wonder what does something that big do here. Mindlessly, you put a hand on the giant object, thinking. You didn’t expect to trigger any kind of reactions. Immediately, the clock starts ringing. You bring both of your hands to your ears, the noise becoming louder and louder at each rings, and you can feel every single one of your hairs rising. _  
_

_Something_ else starts to be heard too. It starts like a whisper, but it amplifies soon enough just like an uproar, just like thousands of people repeating the same thing over and over with voices of sand and smoke. _  
_

 

 

 

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͇̮̳̻͓a̢̨̱̝̖̣̣̤̬͚̟̱̗̥̲̝̖͙̳ͪ͂̉̽̚͞y̴̧̯̖̻͈̞̥̻ͤ͑̓̑̿̇̉̌̚ę̷͚̣̝͓̣̯̬̤͔̺͎̣͚̪̤̣̮̆̓͆̀̕̕͢ͅr̴̷̨̡̳͎̜͇̝͇̗̤̠ͤ̃̆͌͠i̶̴̢͂̉̽ͬͥ̚҉͇̤̣ͅs̳͚̼̝͙̪̱̟̬̾̈́ͭ̆̄̈́̋̂̽ͨͣͪͣ͢͟͞͡ḩ̨͚̹̲̻̞͔̞͍͖͍̫̘̲̞̹̫̲̥͔ͬ̈̓̑̐e̸̗̰͔̜̲͈̙̳̝̘ͬ̃͗̏̑̋̕̕rͣ̆ͦ̌͂̅̂̔ͥͬ̃̅̍ͫ̋̚̚҉͏̴͜͏̘̫̗̱̻͇͙͇̞̟̼͚̹̩̥̮͈e̷̴̡̩̭̗̣̊ͭͨͬ́t̡̢̘̘̝͕̯͖̺̞̖͈͙̜̹͕̯͚͇͉͌̉ͯ̃ͬͬͨ̊̓̀̓̓̃̒̔̓̀͘͝͝ͅḫ̡̢̯̩̭͕̲̝̥̳̗̳̰̺̼ͦ͛̏̎ͯ̑̋ͦ̉ͣ̊͋̈ͩͩ̅͒ͥ͝ͅe̷͕̼̯̥̥̥͙̲̻͎͑͂͛ͯ̆̎̽̃̋͂̏̑̆̈́ͯ̎̚ͅp̷̧͓̞̥̬̻̞̙̬͙̖͍͓̯̟̤̠̄͌ͯ͐̏͂͆ͨ̃͒̊̍ͪ̌͌͜l̴̡̡͓͔̖̙͇̙̣͈͋͌̇͛ͣ̓̊ͪ͌͒ͅa̴͉̮͉̭̗͚̮̼͕͍̫ͭ̋̑͂̏͒̊̀ͨ͊͗̽͝ͅy̶͓̞͇̬̟̱͉̤̩͎͍͕̲̱͔̘̜̣ͫͬ̏͒́͊ͩ͐̉ͣ̄ͬ͛͆ͥ̎̍̇͢͜e̷̹̮̖̘̣̹̫̲̘͕̱̳̜͍̖̜͖̹̝̓͐͑̾̋̽̃̇̋ͩ̀̚͟͢r̲͇̻̮̂̿͛͊͛̒̓̔ͤ͆̈̈̊ͦ͛͗͘͠í̛̦͈͈̺̲̞̖̔̽ͯ͌ͣ̈͠͡s̢̙̣͕̖͈͇̙͚̫͕̦̼̭̯̈́̀̀͛̌̾̀̐͑ͧ̕ͅh̵̨̨̞̭̟̭̣̖̼͎̦̖̻̹͇̲̩̮͙͔͒̄̄̓̄̇ͫͦ͌̅̒͑ͥ̋͛̐̚̚͘ͅe̶̛̠̗̠̠̣͉̘̟̔ͬͣ̓͑̍̒̚͞r̢͔̝̦̼͖̠͉͚̰͎͇͚̖͍͊͊͌́ͥ͝͝͡è̸͍͔̠̥̩͂̂̋̒͑̈͒̎́̅ͦͧ͑ͦ̿̚͢t͎̻͔̬̗͓͈̟̻̟͚̬̠̱̘̻̜̣ͬ̄̓̽ͯ̽̆͛͌̓͑͐̓̌͡ḩ̶̴̛̥͖͕̟̙̙̠̪̥͍̗̲͈͒͗̆ͤͧͧ̉ͬ͢ȩ̧̻̘̻͎̘̰̠̭̱ͦ̎̑̏̈́̔̋͑̓̕͘ͅͅp̶̨̠̭̰͈̓͋͋ͮ͛̓͊͞l̬̮̯̙̮̼̠̬̞͚͙̤̳̊͊͐̎̌ͯͦ̉̎̓̿́̕a͆ͬ̂̐ͨ̄̇ͤ̇͒͏̺̙͙͔͉̰͔̖̜̪͚̟͇̻̺̬̩̝̼͝y̢̡̦̼̪̪̟̼̥̤̱͇͓͙̤̥̺̪͌͊̌̌̊͌͆̀ͪͦͨͪͥ̀̌̚̚͘͟e͖̠̭͈̞͉̙̩̞̪̽ͦͥ̎̿̏̔ͤ̉̋̍̈̕͡r̸͒̊̈́̈ͭ̒͛͐͟҉̳̠̭̲̤̱̯̣̫̦į̸͉̺̹͔̬̻͈͍͈̙̼͚̪͈̥̿̅ͨ͌ͦͣ̃̾̈́̉ͧ̎̀͜͡s̴̴̵̛̯͔̯̖̼̪̟̼͕̪̞̫̠͕͈̤͕ͪ͒̒͋̍̒͛̓̐ͫͫ͆̈́ͣ̈h̷̷̟̪̤̯̳̹̥̋ͧ͑̽͞ȩ̡̭̦̹̱̹̼̪̇̈ͮ̆̅͘͝r̸̛̒̉ͨͥ͛ͪͩ͗̌ͤͫ͢҉̸̰͔̻̤̫ͅḛ̛̺̪̦̟͍̞̙̼̖̤̝̅͋ͯ̒̈̃̌̅̒̕͜͝͝t̴̨̠͇̘̟̫̫̻̙͎͙̣͇̬̥͎̉ͬͤ̔ͤͪ͒̄̐ͬ͑̃̉̅̐ḣ̷̷͉̼̰̂̋̋̀ͧ̈́̈̏ͅę̛͇̲̬͍̻̻͇͓͖̟̗ͥ́ͣ̏͑̄͐͐̑ͅp̴̶̸̪̰͔̣̂ͫ̽̈ͬ̎̎ͭͣ́̎͊̌ͨ͂͑ͭ̐ͨl̴̛ͫͮ̎͆͘҉̢̰̠͉̟̝̮̟͚̲͚͍̜͇͈̱̲͈̮ͅa̶̧̯̤̗̪̫͕͎̠͙̭̞͎͉͎̓̏̑͌̃ͪ̓ͤ͒͐͌ͬ͋̒̂̊̀̚͡͡ͅy̪̤̬̰͎̦̦̯͉̖̰͈̘̭͍͔ͦ͐ͯ̃̀ͥͩ́͒̓ͦ̚͘e̵̶̢̡̦͍̦͇̖̙ͭ̅̑̋̓̓̈̽̿ͤr͖̪̲̜̦̦͕̞͙͓̞̔ͥ̈́ͤͫͫ̊ͯ̎͛ͣ̚ͅi̧͍̺͚̹͇̹̬̻̠̯̖̟ͪ̂̽̈̊̌ͥ̈̋ͩ̓ͣ̎̆̋͟͠s̷̨͇̥͇̗̱̩̬͙͔͇̜̓ͬ̇̅͆̄͑ͭ̔ͣͮ̃̒͝h̏̄̌͌̆̎͑͂҉̷͎̗̤̩̹̠͇̥̮̤͈͚̫͕͈̳͙͈͉ȩ̛͕͓͙̲͈̖̘̣̼̣̑̾̋ͪͯͫͧ͜r̸͖̪̼̺̯͖̘ͬͤ̊̍̓ͩe̷̡̲͎̭͇̝̱̹̭̲͙̼ͥ͋͂ͩ͒̿́ͥt̡̼̘̥͇̼͖̤͎̤͖̭̱̯͋ͮ̒ͬ͆̐ͭ̔̈́͘͘͢ͅͅḣ̴̙͇̰̦͍͔͇̪̣͇̭ͨ̃̄ͧ͑̆ͧͩ͂͢ͅḝ̛̝̱̤̟̼̘̹͓̠̹̮̮̻̟͍́ͮ̆̆ͯͭ̇̐͛̐̔̽͐̀ͪ̈́̚͝p̵̸̈́̊ͯͧ̉̒̋̆̑ͮ̿ͫͭ͝͏̩͕͖͔͕l̷̢̹͍̪͎͉͚̰̤̰̳̝̖̫̠̼̺̭̤̭̀͒͆͝͠a̵̮̖̻̖̗̣͖̪̘̗̜̯̳͈̒̎͆ͦ̈͑ͩͣͪ̀̎̊ͧ͐̔͞ͅy̢̢̙̻͔̠̞͚̼̠̭͓͎̓̑̈́̓̋̓̇ͯ͛̊̓͐̇̉̌̑ͫ̚e̵̠̣̣̗͎̩̞̩̫̙̭̰̪̹͉͚͕͒ͥ̑̿̆̽̏̎̃͆͂̚͟r̡̧̗̟͍̫̻͕̹̯̖̹̠̘͚̐ͫ̂ͭ̍̏̿̒͆͗ͦͥ͝͠͝īͫͧ̋ͣ̎̏͗̂͗͏̷̫̞͈̩͔̗̣̳̮̫s̨͙͎̜̻͍͓̳̜͗̍ͯ̈́̑̀h̢̧͉̣̜̰̼͑ͨ͋͒͟͠ͅę̧ͨ̒̒̿ͪ̔̇ͬ͂ͮ̌͜҉̣̲̜̞̘̪̥̫͇r̽͗̂ͬ͆̂̆ͩ̅ͩ͌̅̆͑͐̈ͣ̔͡҉̲̰̮̺͉̼̰̕͝e̴̦̩̜͇̬̜͑́ͯ͂͠ṱ̹͎̱̲̖̈́̓̍̃ͯͫ̉̓͂̀ͮ͟͡h̢̢̼͓̞̹̫̝̤̫͙͎͐̈ͣę̸͙̻̮̺̺̩͛͛ͤ̃̆̈́ͩp̧̧͖͈̬̲͍͇̪͚̰͔͙̙͕ͨͬͤ̊̆̎̔̎ͥͩͬͮͥ̀͘l̴̴͕̥͇̠̼̗̙̦͕͍̖̼͕̥̜̬͓͐̓̐ͤ͋ͫ͗̅̇͊̓̄ͭ͒̏ͥa̴̵̡͈̮̠͉͙̗̫̝̳͈̰̹̟͔͔͋̐̑̽ͫ̃ͯ͘͡y̡̑ͬ̽͒ͯ̎͂̒̐͐ͨͥ̔ͬͭ̍̚͏̣͈̹̘̬̲͍͉͕̟̮̠̩̗̲ͅͅe͖̲̭͕̠̱̠̪̎̾̀̊̋ͣ͒͛̒̂͞͠ṙ͚͎͔̳̠̠̱̎̒͊̄̏̑̐̏̊͞ȉ̎̈́ͮ͋͆̇ͪ̒̑̆̏̅ͭ́̉͝҉̶̝̱̩̥̝̙͚̘̺͢ş̓̾̍ͥ̏̆̍ͬ͊̈̓͂̈̔ͥ̂͐̀̚҉̘̺̮͕̬̳̼̜̖̭̬̼͕̙͕̤͓h̶̸̨̨̹͎͉̖̘̪̺̭ͦ̊͒̇͊ͅe͖͉̬̞̰̩͙̟̭̙̽͌̐́ͭ͑̄̾̽͘͜͡ŗ͍̲̼͙̬̠̟̻͗ͩͦͦ̃̏͜ê̴̵̛͚͚̯͙͙̠̬͙̮͇̾̓ͣͭ͆̏ͤ͐͂͘ͅt̛̻̲̠̜̹̖͇͚̪̩̬͍̝̤͎̟͐̓ͪ̈̇̔ͯ̿ͮ͛͆͜͞h͑ͨͦͯͮ̅̐̅̈ͧ̇͛̉̊̇̉̓ͯ̎͏͏̣̫̰̲̝e̸̹̦̟̰̹̬̩ͮ̈́ͯͯ͗͐͂̍̈́͌ͦ̓̇̅͐͢͠p̴̡͖̥̻̹͖͔̬͉͉͚̼͎ͬ̿͋̈͛͋͛ͣ͢͡͞l̛ͣ̾̊ͯ̇ͤ͗̂̃̍͑͋̎ͬ̍ͪ͏̭̻̺̯̰͈͔̦͎̳̰͔̲͡ͅą̴͇͈̭͍̼̹̲͎͎͉͗̎͛ͦ̑͋͋͛̑ͪ͟͝y̢̩̠̝̺̝̠̩̤̙͚̲͖͆ͥ͒̍͆ͫ͊͆̒͛̑͒ͤͯ̓͊ͦ̓̆͜ͅe̸ͪͦ͆ͮ̚҉҉͖̱̣̼͙͍͔̜̼̻̘ͅr̢͙͖͚̱͕̞̖̜̺̠̮̮̜̪̮͕̳ͦͦ̆͆̔̑̂͂̓̐i̫̺͎̰̻͈̤̣̩̝̻͈͙̠̿̋ͭͦ́̀̆̓͛͂͢͞͡s̷̡̞͈̰̩̬͔̠̱̪͈͐͂̆͑̿̍̍ͩ̀͒̌͋ͩ̃͐͂hͬ̐ͩͤ̆̅͋ͭͬͤͥ̂͒͆͏̛̝̘̤̙̘̱̯̦̲͎̣̤̼͍̟ẹ̴͇̗̩̞̇͊̇̾ͭͯ͘͝r̵͓̟̳̳̦͈̰̺̪͍̪͔ͤ̍̊̂̃̈́͌ͣͯͫ͛ͤ͋̇̍̃̓͜ḛ̵̷̷̡͚̤̩̹͖̮͙̯̞͈̯̲͚̠̗͎̓̓͌̔̓͛͊ͩ͢t̋̂͒ͨ̒͆̎̓̍̔ͧ͂͌̄̓͏̴̧͔̱͇̹̪͚͈̹̯͔̟͙̮̗͢ͅͅͅh͛͆͋̓ͨ̒ͤͦ̑͗ͣ̈҉̳̬̩̙̖̞̥͇̺̯̣̲̞͡ͅe̥̟̱̦̰̞̼͋͋̉̽̅ͥͮ͌ͬ̉̊ͦ̏̎ͪ̆̊͡͝p̆ͨ̓ͣ̀ͯ̓ͬ̇͢҉̝̠̰͈̥̩lͣ̓ͭͥ͟͏̳̮͖̪̘̦͔͉̰̦̼̪͚̪̰͎̣ͅa̶̛̲͔͚̺͉̳͕̫̖͙͚̼͕͍͓̠̥̤ͧ̑̓̏ͭ̃͝y̢̛̖̥̻͈̝̪̅ͣ̏ͫ͐́̇͛̀͗ͧ́̚͟e̼̙̮̞̯͈̝͇͖̱̮̘͚̮̜̯͖͚ͬ̓̑̓ͨ̔̉ͯ̆ͥ͛̉͛r̴̢͙͔̱̥̭̜̲̓ͥ͗̐̈̑ͪ̊̋ͦ͒̀̎́̃ͦi̶̶̢̞̭̪͚ͭͤ͑ͨ̇̓ͪ̎ͯ͑ͯͨͦ͛s̵̮̻̱̝͚̳͕͔̋ͩ͛ͯ͊ͣ͆͛ͬ́̀̎ͮͮͮ̃̑͜ḩ̷̦͍̪̮̞̍ͧ͒̽ͯ̀͡e̢͈̹̥͈̯̥͚̝͓͕̰̙̜̅̑̔͒̾̎ͫͥ́̚ͅͅr̵̛̦͇̙̟̙͉̤̱̭̙̩̙͇̮̫̹̮̰͂͋̌̍͐ͩ̉͗̏͘ḛ̶̬̩͈̮̻̻͕͋̆ͮ̓͑̾̐ͧ̈̐ͧͥ̊ͨ͗̇́̊̚͡͝t̷̨̩̣͇͂͑̓͐̽̐̑̋̐̓ͬͤ͒̆͗͑͐͊̿h̛̹̭̜̩͓͔͙͖̤͖̜̝͍͈̘̼̽̌̓ͦͤ̈́ͧ͛ͨ̀ͤ̈́͜ͅe̴̹̜̟͚̲̻̤̠̫͇̲̪͎͔͈̔̉ͣ̂͌ͪͣ̌̔̓ͅp̶̥͔̟͖̪͉͗ͪͣ̏̏ͣ͌̿̽͗̿ͤͮͫl̷̢ͫ̃̉́̎̄̋̄͋͆̌͗̅̾̆ͪ̃҉̦̹͔͕̟̖̖͔̙̘̕a̋̌͊̀̃̔ͬ̂ͭͯ͒͜͏̧͖̜͕͉͕͔̰̣̦͠ͅy̛̤̼̱͔̬͉͓͉̰͍̹̹͙̟͐͛ͬ̚e̴̹̘̥͕̗͗ͯ̑̾ͤ̽ͬ̇͌̃̀̃ͣͪͭ́͗͑̕͠͞ͅȑ̵̡̛̼̱̫̖̳̫͕̗̤̮̝̪͍̓̑ͯ̄̐̍̋ͅi̴̢̻̙̭̣͖͈̝͈̝͍̰̘͎̘͉̞̣̟̅̓ͬͭ́ͭ̚ͅs̶̙̘͎̠͈̼̜͙̈̅̊̌ͭ̍̃ͦ͆̔̂̓̃ͪ́̄̚͘̕͝h͍̻̦̜̅̍͗͆̈́ͧ̉͘͞͞ę̫͓̝̙̽ͭ̆̏̆̇ͤ̈̀̐̊͗̑̇̍̇̇͛ͧ͘̕͞ͅr̀͊ͪ͂̉̔̓̚͏̧͏̥͖͈̜̩̼̣̻̙̗̯̥̯̦̦e̵̢̨̱̖̞̝̙͙̼̗̘͐̏ͦ̓͑ͧ̔͋̆͛ͯ̚̚͘t̶̨ͬ̅̍̈̈́̊̄͂ͣ̄̍̔̚҉͏͇̺̟͈̪͙̳̟̖̝͖̗h̴̖͓̲̪̬̘̞̦̄̆̒̓͛̒̓̓́̇̏ͯ̚̚͠e̴̖̗͈͚͈ͪ̾̀͂̓̒͝p̧̛̬̝̞͇̹̈̔ͤ͊̾ͦͦ͑͆̚ͅl̶̨̡͕̘͓͉̾̿̀̐̂̃̓̐͠ͅa̢̝̦̮̪͎͔̖͓̠̦ͭ̊̃̑ͯ̾̊̿ͨ̕͘ͅy̧͉̪̮͓͉͓̺̺͖̼̲͍̞ͬ̊̐̄͢ͅe̜̥͖̞̋͌̓̔́̃ͯ̉͟͠r̷̴̛͈̤̬̣̰͓͙͎̖͆͑̽ͯͦ͒̏͢ͅĭ͌ͮ̈ͧ̏̀̓̔̋͏̴̴̮͓͎̰̫̰̺̝̣͘͢ş̷̴͙̝̯̪͓͕͚̪̫̺̲̒̊ͤ͗̔ͨͬ̒ͭh̡̛͓̙͙̝͕͕͕͈̳͉͍̤̣̦̖̙̲͎ͮ̐̽̊͊̇̈͠e̮̠͙̜̩͔̰̝̪̹̟̩̮͗ͣ͒̓ͭ͢͠ř̨͎͎̯̜̫̻̜̼͙ͧͥ͋ͮͬͭ͛̋ͭ̚͟͡ȩ̧̡̨̩͓͈̻̺̋ͥͣ͌͌͛͐ͭţ̴̛̩̞͉̼͙͖̥̗̱̖̖̱̩ͤ͐ͬ̊͌̎̒͋ͧ̆̍̄h̛̥̭̥̯͔̰̣̲̯̞̖̟̻̖͚͗͊ͥ̇͒͊̐ͬ̈̌̄ͣ̚̕͝͝ę̵͇̤̥͉̟̦̼͕͈̻͈̲̝͖̙̺̬̹̔ͫ̎̂ͬp̷̷̤͔̖̟̮̤̲̗̝͕̠͕͈͙͔̞͉̲ͮͥͥ͐̔̌͒ͅļ̤̜͙̭̘̘͉̞̭ͫͮͫ͌͐ͯ̓̍͗ͯ̇͛ͮͧ̕͟͡ͅaͫ̈̒̏͂̾̓̀̒͗̀ͪ̐̅ͣ͊̚͏̴̞̣̹y̶̡̨̢̛̝̪̻̖̼̮͓͓̗̜͒̇ͣͦ͒̉̎ͬ̎ͪ̊ę͖̹̬̫̝̦̭ͮ̈́̔͂͐̊ͬͭ͢͠͡͡r̷̼̜̗̜͇̜̬̣̍ͩ̑ͣ̆̿͑͂͂͑̅̅̆̆̏̕͢iͭͥ̅͐͊͊̽̈ͫͬͥ͗ͤ̕҉̹͇̭s͛ͨ̓͛͑͢͢͏̝̳̞͎͙̟̦̞͕h̛̏ͯ̿͌̏̈ͫͬ̓҉̠̝͔̙̻͔̖̞͖͠ͅȩ̸̡̟̠̥͉͚̝̻̮͕̳̤̯͕͎̓ͤ̄̅̃̍͑̈́ͦ̈ͅr̡͙̭̥̺̤͓̝͔̳̖̮̗̬̼̾̋͌̽ͬ̌͘͢ę̸̵̱͍̙̪̱̲̼̠̦͈͚̪͇̋̈́̍̎̓͂̕ͅt̢͓͉͙̠̤̤͎̼̎̄̑̇͟͜h̡̜͔͚̣̻͇̤̼̹ͨ̍̈̍̐̊ͤͮ͋͢͟ͅe̶ͧ̒ͫ̋̍͑͋͂̓̇͌̆̏ͪ͋̒̓̚҉̧̝̬̜͕͉̳̟͙̖̻̫̰̱̫̱̞̫̱͞p̧̩̞͇̞̰̬̘̱͙̼̰̫̻̊̑͑ͥ͜ͅͅl̶̢̃ͥ̄̊̈́̿͗́̓͌ͤ̋̃̈́͟͏͍̦͚͙̮̝̯͢a̸͖̪̯̖͚̩̫͍̭̘̠͙ͤͪͩͮ̓͆͟͡ͅy̸̭̱̞̎̓ͤ̄̑̈̾̕͟eͬͦ͗ͣ̃ͣͨ͋̌̕̕҉̧̞̼̜͔̯͙̗̱̱͔͚͔̖̭͚͓̜̻ͅŗ̶̥̠̝͙̦̳̪͒͒ͮ̈́̔̑̀ĭ̢̘̲̺͎͍̯͇̲̤̦̝͉ͦͧ͛̿ͩ̐̔ͭͧͤ̎̏̓͛s̸̘̞̞ͨͩ̐͒ͦ̔͆̽̓̔͗ͨ͂ͪͭͭ͢ͅḣ͈̩͓̬̬̹̠̮̱͆͂͒̌͞e̴̡̹͔̹̝̘̤͔̪͔͚͌͆̽̉ͪ̅ͨ͋̅̽̌͗̚͜ͅͅr̖͖̺̦̗̯͇͉ͣ̈̒̅̕͟͢eͪ̏͗ͨ͏̩̘͙͕̹̗͇͔̱̞͞t̴̴͛ͮ̈́̊͗͗́ͫ͏̭͈̩͇̖̖͞h̢̘̤͚͈̮͈̩͙̬̘̟͔͚̯͋ͨ̇̄̄́́͑̒̉̂͒̇̅ͯ̕e̷͋ͯ̿ͨ̉́ͣ̅̊̕͏̖͕̥̰̠̘̮̩̜̖̘̫̖̗̠̻ͅp͍̱͕̟̼͍̪̳̦̥͈͙͂̓̃ͫͩ͗̓̊ͯ͐ͨ̋ͬ̽̌͑̎͜͡ͅl̼̰̼͍̮̤̬͖͈͎̦͉͍̫͎̯̲̣̹ͦ̎̉̉̓̉ͬ͌͒ͦ̈́̇ͭ͛̚̕͡ă̷͇̦͓̼̤̰̖̟͖̼͚̻͎͍ͬ̽̅̀̂͂͢͝ͅy̱͙̳͍̟̝̤͕̯̰̦̞͓̟̘̙ͭ̔̍ͣ̆ͫ̔̍ͦ͆̾ͭͥ͜͠e̴̢̨̹̣̠̺͔͉̜͉̟̯̗̬̋̑͌͊ͣ̈́̆ṛ̷̢̢̯̪̝̂̃̂̏̋̍̌̔̽̈̄͐ͩ͂̔̕͞i̧̽͒̀͊̅̚҉̬͖̱̞̤̲͖̹̙͚̕͟s̶̡̞̞̺͕͎̠̙̬̘̦ͤ͐͛͒͗ͨ̓̌ͥ͌̈́ͥ̂ͯ͂̕ͅḩ̡̺̮͔̥̙̻̟̝̩͓̫̦͔̪̗̗ͭ̓̽ͨ̂̌͗̐̃̈ͨ̇͠ͅͅë̠̦̲̞͉͕̦͇̬̲̰̾̉ͯͪ̆ͪ̈́͟͜ͅr̴̶̫̳͖̱̪̻̗̭̭̯͔͙͕̘̜ͧͩͭ̄̍ͮ̒ͪ͒̎ͯ͗͒͋ͫ̎͘ȅ͈̯̻͈̱̰̬̖̺̤̹͖̹̹̙͇͉̆̒ͥ̌̏̆͗̏͐́ͨ̔̉ͤ͜͜t̷̶̙̗̥̬̱͓̟̫͍̜̝̥̘̤͚͈͇̳̼̍ͪ̈͊̎̏͂ͨ̈́̃̂̑̐̾̌̓h̒̄̒ͧ͑̔̄̓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̟̩̰̻͕͇͙͈̠̭̙͓̲̼ͅs̞̹̜̰̹̳͈̭̩̗͂̆ͫ̆ͬ̂͊̊͑̎͐̚͝h̝̩̘͍̲̗̫͇̫͌͑̉̇͒͢͞͠é̢͇͇͉̻̳̹̟̣̻͖͉̪̳͔̝̖̥̋̂̍̎ͮ̎ͅř̏ͭ̅̌ͬ̾̄̏̃͗́̈ͭ̚͢҉̣͎̠͚̙̻̳̗̯̳͉̹̺̪ͅě̵̷̡̜̭̮̩͎̭͍̭̹̲̟̩͙̟̫͔̭͇͎̿͒͆ͮ͋ͬ̑̄̅͊̏ͤͩ͆̚͡t̛͔̹͇̼̗̝̪̣̪̺̘̹̱̼̬̥̬̗̹ͣ͑̾ͥͧ̂́̆ͤͬ̋̈́͜͞h̗̥̲̪̼̻̩̤̹̻̆͗̌ͭ̆͌ͣͨͤͩͯͦ͂̔ͅe̷̿ͩͭ͛ͮ̈́̉ͤͩ̂̉̉̑̄̏̔ͫ̄̐̕͏͎͓͙̞͔̗̰̜͙͉͈̪̞ͅp̨̯̤̺̬̤̤̫̟̩̪ͮ̆ͧͦ̈͗͆̋̔͑ͯ̈́͐̋ͧ̿̚͟͠l̶̸̢̳̤͇̞̗̫̝̦̞̮̦̈ͦ̿̊̆̑͌̔̒̆̎ͨ͗ͬ͊̚͜͝ä̶̩̺̬̰̫̪͕̠̜̥̹́ͦ̉̄ͣ͗̓̉̿̎ͫͥͬ̈ͩ͞y̍ͪ̉̇̾ͥ̈́̑͋͘͝͠͏̵̮̻̠̤̳̬̱͎̗̯͓e̢̻̼͍̬̳̰̪͎͔̰͇̺͉̭̓͗̎̑̐ͥ̌̎̀͝͞r̢̛̟̠̖̘͗̂̐̎̇̇̒̀ͯ͊ͪ͂ͭͨḭ̶̘̟̞̮̘̽͑͗̄͛͆͛̄̈́ͭ̑s̨̗͍̣̤̦͇̦̰͇̤̄̊ͦͤ̉͗ͤ̈̑ͫͯ̕͡ḧ̶̡̨͍͉͎̯͉̯̣̞̰̞̠̝̫͇̐̎ͫ̉̽ͤ͋ȅ̷͙̮̹͕̣̙̠̭̝͓̼̲̊͊ͫ̇̄̔͡͡r̸̨̘̬̞͖̫͉̟̼̳̜̂͒̓̽ͯͮ͝é̷̢̨̨͍̮̣͖̘̙̫̲̦̬̻͖ͯ͒́̑̋͂͝t̖̠͙̖̖̯͕̤̩̗͙ͮ͋͐̃͝h̊ͮ͋ͤͥ͌̆͋ͣ͋͛̌ͦͧ̈͐҉̢̲̯̮̥͉͇̼͇ͅȅ̿̎ͦ̅̎͌̊̕҉̴̢̛͚͈͔̣̰̝̟̩̤̥̦̖̞͉ͅp̑̐ͣ̈̋ͬ̏̃̿̔ͯ͝҉͔̹̖̬ͅl̸̡͔̙͕͙̔ͨ̎̉̓͆ͬ͋ͯ̏̿̅͒ͬ̂̚̕͞͡â̷͐̎̃̈́̊̑͋̇̔̿͛̔̍͗̽̓̚͠͏̧̛͍̭̳͚͔̥̩͇y̢̢̮͈̬̞̪̦̙͙̞̲̜͛͌̆̓̀ͤͨ͑̔ͩ̆͑̽͆̍̚e͔̤̺͎͈͙̺͚̱̾̔̀ͯ̇ͯ̍͋͜͠r͂̓ͨͮ̌̎́̈́̎͋ͨ͏̸̥̙͉̬̺̙̻̹͖̟̜̠̼̬̕͢ȋ̷͓̟̦͙͕̪̠̰̭̟̩͕̗͓̦̠͂̀̒͊̽̽ͦ̈́̅͋ͯ̄̿ͧ͂̋͢ͅs̷̫̱͈̦͔͔̳̹̟͆̃̓̑̎͢ͅͅḩ̸̣͉̼̫̲̬̝̲̦̌̑̂͑̾̍͑ͩ͊ͫ̿̅̊͞e̟̞͎͔̪̫͓̱͚͖̦̯̓ͣͮ̾ͮ̌̿ͮ̄ͮ̎́̀ͥͪ̕͟͞r̎ͨͪͥ̾̃̈ͫ̀ͮ̃͐̚͏͔͕̣̖̪̹͖̙̪̦̳̜̯͎̖̺̞͔̕͞͞e̦̭̟̝͎̝͇̜̬̭͓̍͑͂ͥ̽̀̈́̃̏͢͠t̢̧͔̦̼̼̖̹̘͙͔̘͎͍̳̯̲̬̞͕͈͋̒ͪ͛̓͆̾ͪ̃ͣ̒̒̈ͪ͆͒̌ͤ̏ẖ̴̱̹̯̺̲̲̭̞͕̤̪̩͎͇͚ͤ̉͂̔ͮ͡ͅe̵͕̦̪͓͚̘ͭ͐͑̋̋͒͋̓p̵̿̊̏́̿̋̔̈́ͭ͛ͫ̑ͬ̓̒͏̼̞̫͕̤̹̖͙̟͝l̴̔̋̄̔͏͏͍̤͈̣̟͍̥̞̫̩̩͎͝a̶̺̘̞͚̮̗̝̰̭̖͔̝̞͍̻̞ͩ̇̎͆̓̎̍̄͒͐̈́͑ͮ̓̈́ͧ̚̕͞͠͞y̵̶̛̝̲͓̯̲̯̮͚͕̱̪̩͕̟̰ͩ͌ͤ̒͑̋͒ȩ͇͚͈͚̫͖͕̟̎ͭͧͯͪ̾̌ͭ̃͒̋ͩͯ̅͘ṛ̛̘̞̙̺̳̝͚̼̬̺̇̄ͯͥ̾̒ͦ̎̃̇ͬ͜͟͞i̴̙̗͖̼̣̣̘̱̩͔͗ͬ̿ͥ͗̾ͫͥ̂̑̒ͥ͑̍̏͡s̵̡̱̗̝͍͌̅ͯͩ̂͒͋̿ͧ̕͟h̴̛̲̘̖̹̋̈̍͒͑ͮͦ̆ͩ͂͞e̷̥̻̙̠͚̞̺͉̥̯̗̹͖̭̬͇͓̠̊̈̔̈̏̈́̈́̒͆ͧ̑ͯͤ͠ŗ̶̴̠̳͇̣͒̑ͪ͂̒̇̽e̶̼̫̘̖͔͚̥̭͛ͪͧͬͩ̏̓̾̉ͫ͢͢ţ̢̘̮̲̫̤͎̓ͤͭ̏͜h̵̼͙̻̤̤̥̬̤̝ͥ͐̆̈́̚͞͝ȩ͖͉̥̰̥͓̝͎͓̰̯̝ͨ̓ͤ̿̆̋͆̃ͬ̒ͮ̔̅̑͌ͣͪ̂̅͝ṗ̶̡̟̣̪̫̪̯͎̻̰̲̲̙̱̆ͧ̿͜͠l̸̢̞̼̩͚̜͈͍̍͛͆ͬ̇͋ͪ͜͞ȧ̩̺̻̖̖̣̳̲̲͕̎́̎͊̈͑̍̓ͥ̈́̉̔͜͝ͅy͎͎͍̎͌̈̚͝͝͠ͅe̵̹͈̫̹̣̥̥̗̩͕̫̓̊͂ͧͩ̑̆̓̌ͅŗ̵͖̦̖͈͇̝͖̱̝̻͙͉͎̥̩̉ͯ͆͂ͤ̂̂ͤ͊ͯ̏ͨ̉͂̒̚͡i͙͓̻͚̣̟͙̮͚̠̠̭̳̞̓͋͑ͦ͂̿̾ͧͨ̃̃͛͛͑͘͘ṣ̵̫̠̟̯͚͕̀́ͮ̑̔̔̉̀̀ͬ̐̇̃ͩ͢͞͠͝h̒͋̊̓ͫͩ͂͗͂̐̐̒ͧͮ͒ͥ͘͟͞͏̝͈̦͙̺̮e̵̷̲̝̗͎͑͒ͫ͋̏͗̋̅̌̏̐̒̊͛ͦr͛̊ͬͫ̓͊̿ͫ͗ͤ͏̷̵̨͎̻͖̟̲̩̦̬̩̰͎͙͟eͤ͗̆ͩ̂͐ͣ̉̄̈́͐̔͏̵̤͖̻̖͘͞t̿͂̄ͪͦͨ̀ͭͩͬͭ̓̌̊̇̍̚̚҉̸̲̹͇͙̟̠̺̙͓̻̞̖̹̲̻̭͉̯͝ḩ̸̹̻̝̖̭̘̽ͤ̔͋̍͌́̐̊ͩ̎̌͆͟ẽ̢̢͔̪͎̔̅ͥ͗̓̅̈ͩ̚͝p̢̛̞̝͕̝͙͈̣͊ͯ̄̃̌ͧͥͦ́̒ͤ̈̊͊̀ͣ̓ͮ̌͞l̞̖͈͖͇͕̗̰̙̪̫̓͋̊͐̅̊ͮͯ̄̄̿͑͊̀ͤͪ͘͜a̵͕̮̹͖͎͙̙̗ͤͮ̆̑̇͒͂̑͋͛̓͆ͣ̓͠y̗̖͚͉͍͔͒̽͒̽̊̈͑͑ͪ̂̑̔͡ͅe̵̫͙̞͕̠͐ͧ̊ͣ̒̈́͛̾ͯͤͣ͊̎̃̕͟ŗ̷̶̝̠͇̬̣̙̗̼̫͖̥̪̝̟̓̄̂ͥ̔͐̓̊̉̐ͧ̃͑̕i̸̘͔̤̼̪̬ͬͯ̎ͤ̓̽š͊͒̋ͩͪ͏̴̶̗̠̮͙̱̭̺h͛̒ͬ̑͋̅ͩ̓̌ͦ̔̈̎̂́͌ͫ͊̓҉̸̧͍̺̘̖̪̱̪̪̘̳̹̮͠e̵̦̠̮̫͕̞͚ͬ̎͂ͥ̚̕͝r̸̨̡̲̳͖̪̺̘̣̹̞̘̭̬̺͖͔̤̭̯̉̇̉̌ȩ̖̭̞͈̬͎̙̲̹̙̅̓ͨ̐̐ͭ́͒̊͒̄̐͑̚͜͟͠tͤͪͥ̊̒͏̨̝̗̳͇͉͖̖͜h̸̡̗̯̪̪͔̩̞̰̩̮͈͓̜͔̖̱͖͗ͫ͆̃̄̒̓́̔͂̃̆̆̒̓̾̐̈́͘̕͝eͧ̅̈ͫ̇̇̔̓̔̀͆̓͞͏̷̴̨͉͕̖̣̜̩͖̼͙̬p̵̵̪̗͚̗͖̺͇̻͖̘̻͚̥̰̥͔̦ͮͬ̿ͪ͒ͧ́̎̑̏̓̓͋ͬ̚͟l̸̸̸͛̈́ͨ͗ͧ͛̎̔̓̈ͯ̒̾̌̉͒͢͏̩̹̜̩̘̝̹̼͖̥̲͕̪̟a̶̢̨̝̗̩̫̱̪͚̠̮̤̙̫͉̭̼̥̭̓́ͧ̓͗͗̇̽̏̽͗̅ͫͩ͑͆̿̚ͅy̐ͦ͛̍́̀ͧͨ̋̇͏̷̵̬̟̭̮͓̖̥͚̩̟̟̳͙͡ͅe̢̡̢̯̪̯̙̳̟̪͓̲̼̽͛̈́̆̑͛̕̕ͅŗ̵͎͎̻̫̱̬̗̥̉ͧ̈̑͂͗ͅi̸̭͙̼̦̐͒̔͊ͣ̏ͥͩͨ̌ͣ͂͒͢s̀̄̍͗̉͋̔͒ͦ͂͆͝҉͢͞҉̮̜̫͕h̷̷̨͎̮͓̺͙͛ͨ̏̂͘̕e̱̥̠̯͖̫̝̫͈̞̻͙͔͛ͨ̍̐́ͫͬ͐̐͝͞r̵̷̦̩̳̪̻̞͉̫͙͉̼̹̦̾̄ͪ̀͂̽̅͆̚e̶̢̼̜̱̠̩̲̦̫̣ͯͤ̈̒́ͦ̔̑͘͘t̵̟̟̼̗̯̜͚̒̃̽̍̿͒͋̋͆ͣ̇̓̉͟͡͡͡h̴̴̳̯̺̺̘͇̖̫̮̰ͨ͒̈́͆͆̏͑́̄é̷̶̢̤͈͔̫̻̩̭͚̪͙̻̤̯̣͋̒͑ͥ͐̓̉͌ͯͧ͒̂ͨͧ͐͌͊̚͠p̺͖̜̦͓̹͎͍̏ͬ̉͂͊ͨͫ͠l̸̡̹͍̦͓̞͔̩̗̹̖̪̏̎̂̀̈̇ͫ̏̀a̷̵̴̬̖̰̫͚͚͎̝̤͖̥͓̪̳̮͇̙ͣ͆̒͐̈́ÿ̷̡̛͍̱͚̼͈̮͚̙̱̠̼̂̉͐̌̉ͦ̏̓ͦ̇͐̕͠ͅe̢̨͓͇̲͖̍ͦ͛ͯͭ̽̈́ͤ͞͡r̛̗̜̲̬̰͎̟̳̥͖̖̈̀ͮ̐͌̄͊ͪͤ̌̚i̴̡̓͗̈̄̾́͏͉̲͓͚̪̤͠s̴̼̞̺͎͔̫̼̹̲̘͇̣̺̭͍̭̙͙̤ͬ̓̍̒ͪͬ͗̀͘h̪̥̩͎̠̆̈̾͌̔̀̏͌̋ͤ̂̕e̛͕͈̭̟̥̟̤͓̩̝͗̔̃ͦͧ̚̕ȑ̷͈̖̗͈̼̠̟̲̻̦̊̈ͨͬ͠e͓̖͙̮͔̩͖͔̤͋̾̎̒̓ͩͨ͘t͊ͮ̿ͩ̃ͥ͐͗ͩ̑̽̎̋͏̵̡͚͇̱̝̪͓͝h̴̛̬͔̹͓̰͉̥̪̪͖̪̿̽ͨͮ̃͢͡͝eͭ̉ͨ͆̑ͨ̚͞҉͕̬̭̜̳̩̣͖͙̮͕̲͇p͉̠̞͍͕̤̲͖̗̙͖̺͇͙̦̖͈̑̐͐͆̈̊͊̑̅͐̾̚͘l̨̦̳͙̭̫̯̺̭̮̘̮͍̜͕͉̖͒ͪ̉ͪͥ̕ȧ́̈́͋̌ͮ̿̆ͬ͐̈́̀͊͡͏̝̳̩̱̱̳̯̬̦̭ͅy̸̶̠̬̘̠͈ͪ̅̓͊̅ͤ͒̈́̊͊͊͐̉̅̔͒̍ͧͩ͜͞͞ė̵͙̱̺͍̰̭̥̹͖̮̯̻̜͚̦̲͔̱͔̏̉̿̾̕͞ŕͧ͂̌͑͛ͥ͑̂̆ͨ͜͟҉̳̭̖̯̗͈̗̩̥̜̩̰̮͕͚ͅͅĩ̵̸̗͉̤̲͇̩͈͖̘̖̜͈̬͖ͥ͐͛̕s͕̝̦̗̲͎̲ͣ̋̎̐̏̊͌̌ͪ̃ͩͅh̸͚̭̣̭̣̟͓̜̅ͬͥ͐͐̄ͭ̊͒ͨ̈́ͥ̂̚͝ḛ͚̘̝̺̪̟͍͍̺̯̲̲̖̫͙̗̖̅͆͒̈̄̏ͣͭ͛ͦͥ͒ͦ͒ͣ̚̚̕͞ř̨̫̭̖̲̻̮̖̳̳̺̬̭̙͇̲͔͐̑ͥͨ̉͠͝e̸̹̝͙̮͔̜͙̠̱̭̯̪̱͓̞̪̔̿ͭ͊ͪ̂̽ͭͤ͜͟ͅ_

 

 

You suddenly wake up. _  
_

_…._

It’s morning.


	22. 021

**>  Make sure Weiss is still with us. Vow silently to protect her with your life. You won’t lose another precious comrade the way you did our goat friend. Then look around and make sure the area is clear before getting down. Does Zwei seem om edge?**

**>  “The Player is Here”, repeated ad infinitum. Useful information, but irrelevant to our current situation. You can’t even remember the dream, can you? If you can, remember it. If you can’t, don’t worry, it’ll be relevant soon enough, I’m sure. Either way, see if Weiss is awake. And take a look around, make sure no monsters lurk nearby. If she’s awake and no monsters lurk, get down. If she isn’t, wait until she is. Watch her sleep until she wakes up, then look away so you don’t seem creepy.**

You do remember your dream. In all honesty you’d have preferred not to. It really creeped you out. 

You take a quick look around. No thingies in view. You check up on Weiss. She’s still sleeping. On Zwei. He doesn’t seem to be any more on edge than yesterday. Good. Good. You, on the other hand.. you feel a bit weird. It’s hard to explain. Not in a bad way, though. You decide to stop worrying about that kind of thing. Your companions just woke up, anyway. You don’t have time for this. 

You quickly eat a couple cookies -or, in Zwei’s case, some of the meat- curse the absence of river nearby, and go back to walking to the north. It’s awfully nerve-wracking, boring, and silent. Sometimes, one of you drop a comment, but you never truly start a conversation. You really want to go home. The further you go, the more trees there are. It still isn’t quite a forest, but it’s getting closer to be one. 

You are lost in your observations of the landscape until someone pulls on your sleeve. Unsurprisingly, it’s Weiss. Surprisingly, she did so in order to point at something further above the trees, drawing your attention to… ….Smoke? Why on Earth is there smoke there?


	23. 022

**>  Okay, you feel weird HOW? This may seem random, but could be important. If it’s an odd feeling in your stomach, it may be something you ate (Did we ever figure out what KIND of meat you ate?). Take a moment to consider this before carefully moving forwards, low to the ground and ready to run. If it’s a forest fire, then animals (God forbid, Bone Things) might be running away from it. If it’s something else, like a camp fire, then hide near it in a tree to see who it belongs too.**

You don’t know how to answer that. It’s not in your stomach. More in your chest. It’s like… Like a light in your heart? ..Naaaaah, that’s too cheesy. But seriously it’s something that makes you feel both super-light and powerful. Like your own tiny thunderbolt. In all cases, you’re sure it wasn’t the meat. Whatever it was made of. And that is not an information you want to know. **  
**

**> You know what they say- Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. It may be a campfire, which means people. It may even be this Ozpin guy. On the other hand, it could be hostile natives of this weirdo place. Head towards the smoke, carefully. And be on the lookout; you, Weiss, and Zwei may not be the only people (or creatures) to have noticed the smoke.**

**>  Ask her what she thinks it could be, and before waiting for a reply, grab her hand and head on towards it. If it’s people, you NEED to get there. Leave all thoughts of the people being possibly hostile behind.**

You try to think and act wisely. You really do. But as soon as you realize that it could mean people -actual people, not monsters, maybe even people you could talk to,- you stop thinking logically. You grab Weiss’s wrist, who protest loudly in her own tongue, and you dash forward. 

When you finally arrive, you don’t know if you should be disappointed or happy. 

In front of you is what looks like a small village. There are four -wait five- buildings in front of you, including one in the trees. However, they are even more damaged than the first cabin you’ve used as a shelter. Not only they look old and abandoned, but also like they’d been attacked -two of the houses are down, reduced to scraps of walls here and there, the others have large scratch marks and gaping holes in them- The human skeleton leaning against a tree does nothing to make you feel better. 

On the other hand, there IS someone here. And you’re not talking about the skeleton. There is a living person, right in front of you, looking like a deer caught in car lights and apparently roasting a piece of.. something on the fire that made the smoke. 

There is a moment of silence in which you proceed that this person is a girl, super tiny, dyes her hair and is actually wearing a pyjama. Then she beams and runs toward you to crush both you and Weiss in a hug that could probably kill a bear and shout _  
_

_“Oh Herregud jeg trodde jeg var helt alene hallo !!”_

Okay you can drop the ‘someone you can talk to’ part then.


	24. 023

**> Try explaining in English that we don’t speak gibberish.**

Weiss is already taking care of that. She doesn't last five seconds in the pyjama girl’s embrace before shoving her away and loudly saying… something, probably along those lines. It’d work better if it wasn’t in German though. **  
**

**>  Hug back! Hugs are nice. And see if you can sneak one from Weiss too.**

**>  Hug her back. She must be scared to be all alone. Try and introduce yourself, Weiss and Zwei.**

You, on the other hand, wrap your arms around the tiny girl and squeeze. She seems to like that. Good. You wait a moment before pulling away, smiling. You introduce yourself first, then Zwei, and Weiss -who still hasn’t finished her rant- last. The girl laughs in response -she seems like the kind to be excited easily- before pointing at herself and saying: _  
_

_“Nora.”_

What an odd name. **  
**

**>  That language sounds like Dutch. You remember one of the few tidbits you know about Dutch: it sounds kinda similar to German. Maybe ask Weiss if she understands what the girl is saying? Either way, the other girl seems friendly enough, maybe you can share some food and supplies!**

You cut Weiss in the middle of her probably colorful monologue to ask her if she understood what did the girl say before. She looks at you with that one look that means ‘are you fucking stupi.’ Her answer is a simple 'no’, thankfully, but her tone is cold enough to make your hair rise. Rude. 

You try speaking to the girl a bit, but it’s quickly obvious that she doesn’t understand nearly as much stuff as Weiss. You guess you’ll have to stick to the basics and mimes with her. 

Your offer her your overalls and some food. She gives you in return some.. roasted boar, apparently, along with some probably edible plants and water. Weiss seems a bit wary, but she doesn’t stop you. You suppose it’s just how she is. 

Okay. You now have a correctly dressed newcomer in your team, more food, water, and a few hours before it gets really dark. What do you do?


	25. 024

**>  INVENTORY CHECK!!!!**

Ruby:

 

Weiss:

 

 

Nora:

 

 

**>  Look around and see if there are any viable shelters.**

The least damaged cabin is the one in the tree. You think it counts as ‘viable shelter’. **  
**

**>  Try your very best to ask Nora how long she’s been here. Then take a better look around your surroundings.**

**>  Say a prayer, if you’re religious, with the intent of keeping Nora safe. Something tells me that the cruel god of this place isn’t sated by killing the goat. And a prayer for Weiss (Prayer doesn’t have to be to a diety, could just be hoping they live). The feeling in your heart is probably important, but for now, indicate the houses around you and see if Nora thinks they’re dangerous. Search them. If you see any corpses, try not to scream or make any loud noises.**

You’re not religious, but in this situation a quick prayer to keep all of you safe couldn’t hurt, you think.

When you’re done, you ask Nora how long as she been here. It takes longer than expected to make yourself understood, but eventually -and with, surprisingly, Weiss’s help- she gets it and tells you that she’d only been here since yesterday. Not so long, eh. 

You ask her if she think the houses are dangerous. She shakes her head. 

You decide to explore, but still be careful. The group split for the exploration. 

What you see… isn’t pretty. There is no corpses per see, but you run in a couple more skeletons -one of them missing its skull- You look for anything useful, but what isn’t destroyed is plainly too old to be useful and in the end you don’t see anything you could take. 

You come back to the others, and Weiss inform you that she didn’t find anything either. Nora, on the other hand… she points at the tree cabin with a large grin. Whatever she found there must be good. 

You climb, push aside the broken door, and see… 

Wow. 

You did not expect that. 

It looks like a smithy; there’s even a makeshift hammer in a corner, along with a ridiculous amount of broken weapons and more generally iron in another, and a anvil. If you could find enough wood to lit a fire, you could probably make it work again and use it yourself. Niiiiiiice. **  
**

**> Try to coerce Weiss to eat, then sit around campfire eating. Try to communicate with Nora through pictures.**

You all seat around the fire and eat. You don’t know how can Nora keeps babbling in whatever language she use with her mouth full of meat, but it’s rather impressive. When you’re done, you manage to grab a piece of coal that isn’t too hot and takes out Ozpin’s diary. If you want to communicate by drawing, it’s the perfect moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The skeletons are the remnants of CRDL lmao


	26. ?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile, elsewhere

**== > Be Weiss. Set forest on fire.**

 

 

_You do not understand the entry. Why would you set anything on fire? And beside, who’s Weiss?_

_Your name is BLAKE BELLADONNA and you have more pressing matters. Like the itch on top of your head driving you insane._

_You are Blake Belladonna._

_You are human._

_You are french._

_You are… what are you again?_

_You are scared to forget what you are._

_You’ve always enjoyed some time alone. You’d have never thought it’d be loneliness that’d drive you into insanity._


	27. ?

_Your name is YANG XIAO LONG and you are worried sick. Your baby sister, the only one you have, the one you hold so close to your heart, is missing. Since three days._

_They told you she may have run away, and she could be back anytime. They told you she may have been kidnapped, in which case if you haven’t received any messages about money or anything there are chances that she’ll never come back._

_You call bullshit on both theories._

_So you run. You run and you ask. You ask Junior. You ask the Malachite. you ask every single little punk in the city. And when they refuse to answer, you punch. You punch until your knuckles are bloody and you listen to them talk._

_You run, you punch, you ask. But she’s still missing._

_It’d been three days. Three days since you’ve neglected everything, including your tests, including boxing, including your own health, to look for your sister. Three days and not a single hint about simply if she’s dead or alive._

_You’ve always been her big sister. The one who know everything. The one who can heal all wounds._

_But as you lay on her bed with sore arms and bag under your eyes, you have to admit that you don’t know what to do._

_~~You’ve promised yourself that you wouldn’t lose anyone of your family anymore.~~ _

_~~You’ve promised her you’d keep her safe.~~ _

_~~You’ve~~ _

_**~~Failed.~~ ** _


	28. 025

**>  First indicate the stone in Weiss’s inventory and ask what it is. And then, update the map you have with the forest and the dead village. Then, start trying to figure out what you need to do next, getting everyone’s opinion, through drawing, wild hand gestures, interpretive dance, and maybe smooching Weiss to get everything across. And where is Zwei? Introduce Zwei to Nora, take a few steps back, and record the results in your head. For SCIENCE.**

**> Try to ask Nora if she’s encountered any of the Bone Thingies, maybe try to make a map of where you’ve been so far and draw a heart for Weiss with ‘R+W’ written inside it. You know, to show her your undying love and whatnot.**

You ask Weiss about the stone. She tells you clumsily that she thinks there’s something special with it. She wants to experiment with it. Odd thought, but sure, why not. 

You then proceed to update and ONLY update the map with your current knowledge. You briefly wonder who used to live here. 

You also ask Nora -via drawing something black with white thorns- if she’s seen any thingies. She nods vigorously. You think she’d beaten them. 

And after, you ask the others what should you all do. Nora mimes looking for something and draw a dude in sticks. You suppose she’s looking for someone. Weiss waves around and tells you that you should look for other civilizations, maybe you could get answers this way. You agree with both. **  
**

**> After the map is drawn, draw a picture of a goat, and try to find out what Nora would’ve named the goat that the cruel god of this realm took from us all.**

**>  Share the epic tale of Nian the Goatfriend and how it was he who brought you and Weiss together. It’s a story that must never be forgotten. Also maybe suggest gathering firewood and sleeping in the treehouse forge for the night.**

You share the epic story of that one goat. Weiss slowly lowers her head in her hands. Nora beams and bursts out laughing before suggesting _Stenbocken_ as a name, whatever it means. 

You then suggest gathering wood and sleeping in the treecabin. They all nod, and everyone get to business, taking whatever fallen branches they can before climbing in and putting all of them in the only spare corner. You’ll use them tomorrow. **  
**

**>  Also, pat Weiss’s shoulder comfortingly and gaze deeply into her eyes so that you can think on how beautiful she is, but not too deeply, we don’t want to scare her off.**

You can’t do that! That’s creepy! What you can do, however, is wrap your cape around the two tiny girls. Zwei jumps on your laps and curls into a ball. Before falling asleep, you feel another of those weird wave you’ve felt lately. By the shivers of your companions, you guess they’ve felt it too.

… It’s a peaceful night. _  
_

_What should you do when you wake up?_


	29. 026

**>  If you’re the first one awake, let your companions sleep a bit longer. Reflect fondly on Weiss and be excited about your new friend, Nora. Take a look around at the village below to make sure there’s no bonemonsters in sight.**

You are. Well, you’re the second if you count Zwei as first, technically, but details, details. 

You have to say that you’re more than a bit happy to have companions in this world. Even if you can’t communicate well, you don’t want to imagine how you would have endedup, all alone here. It probably wouldn’t be pretty, you think. You take a look through one of the windows and don’t bother holding back a grimace. Below, a couple wolfthingies are walking -patroling, maybe?- between the houses. They’re small, but still a threat if they notice you. Good thing you don’t think they can climb. **  
**

**> Wake up and get that funny feeling in your chest that may have resulted from sleeping next to that beautiful girl… or heartburn from improper nutrition in the past few days.**

You’d like to, but the only thing you feel in your chest is your heart beating and the faint impression that there’s something dangerous near -probably the wolfthingies, in your opinion.- Come on, there’s just _no ways_ for you to have a crush on a girl barely a few days after meeting her! 

…You suddenly feel like you’ve angered more than a couple people. Oops. Sorry? 

Oh, look who’s waking up! You quickly inform your friends about the situation below.  They aren’t happy, but they accept to not be too loud. Even Nora. She can be excited in silence. You didn’t think it was possible.

**>  Ask them if they’ve been feeling an odd sensation in their heart. If they respond in the positive, tell them to think on what it could mean. If they don’t, consider that you may have a crush in the girl in white, and should totally ask her out on a date after you’re back home. If they do, still consider that you might have a crush on her. And that you should ask her out. Pray to the goat. Ask them which direction they wanna go (Personally vote for north, but that may be overrided).**

**>  Look for possible tracks of the Bonethingies. Head in the opposite direction, try and find a source of water if you can. Bathe if you find one and have the time, you all probably stink by now. (Do not imagine Weiss bathing.You’d get distracted, which would lead to horrible things happening. Still, you bet it’d be a great sight to behold…) Concentrate, and don’t lose hope! You can do this!**

While you’re eating, you ask if any of them have that weird feeling in their chests. Nora shakes her head, but Weiss looks at you with the weirdest expression on her face. You think you just hit the bull’s eye. 

…Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand she confirms it. You wonder what it could means. You tell her you feel the same thing since yesterday. She asks you if you have a crush on her. You tell her it’s ridiculous. She looks relieved. Rwde. 

Nora draws down some theories about what it could be, but when she starts drawing wolf heads in the belly of your and Weiss's pictures you decide it's time to Stop. You all drop the subject to start discussing the more pressing matters -aka, where to go and what to look for first. 

Weiss suggests keep going North, and points out that there is probably a source of water around, or those who’d built this village must have been very stupid. Nora makes you understand that she’s okay with every directions. Well. North it will be. 

You’re about to leave, but Weiss stops you and ask you something with a grammar so bad you don’t get it. She growls in frustration and draws it on the paper. You think she wants you to update her weapon with the red stone she’d found and the forge you’re in. 

…Well, you can do this. 

It takes you a few hours, in which your partners plays with Zwei and you almost get your hands burned a couple times -almost, because while it hurt, there weren’t any wounds, so you suppose you didn’t actually burn yourself- but in the end, the sword has a longer blade, sharper one, and that red stone in the hilt, ready to be released. Never before you’ve been so glad to have studied mechanics. 

Okay. Weiss’s got her sword. Nora takes the hammer. 

You glance outside and see the bonethingies are still here. Bad. 

What should you do?


	30. 027

**>  Before you go anywhere, look around to see if there’s a better weapon you can take with you. Your spanner is nice, but it’s got awful reach.**

You look around, but you don’t see anything that might be better than your spanner. The only useful thing there was was the hammer, and Nora already seized it. **  
**

**>  Ask Weiss why she asked if you have a crush on her. It is, in point of order, a rather odd question to ask.**

She points at your chest, then makes a heart with her hands, then say three simple words. _  
_

_“Cliché romance story.”_

..She got a point. **  
**

**>  It’s fine that you don’t have a crush on the girl. It will come in time. For now, pull out Anonymous Bears and equip it, just in case. Remember Nian / Capricorn, and hope that they’re watching over you. Look around at the trees around you, and try to see if there’s a a way to move through the trees away from the bone monsters. If you need help keeping focused, just remember that Weiss and Nora could be gored and killed by those things if you make even one slip up. No pressure!**

**> Sneak around as quietly as possible and try to get a tally of how many enemies there are. At least you can expect the minimum amount in that case.**

You equip your spanner and screwdriver, Anonymous and Bear, breathing deeply. 

It’s okay. You don’t feel pressured. 

At. 

All. 

Sadly, you don’t think there’s a way to sneak on the other trees like you did in the first forest. The only branches that are close enough to reach are too weak to handle you, not to mention if you have to carry Zwei on all the way. 

Nora suggest getting down, raising her hammer with a psychopathic grin. You don’t like the idea, but it isn’t like you had that much choices, right? Weiss seems about to add something -probably about strategy- but Nora’s faster. She jumps down, swinging the hammer, and with a joyful yelp launches herself at the first wolfthingy. 

Oh dangarang. 

You’ll have to act fast. There is two wolfthingies, one of them facing Nora, and you are three. Four, if you count Zwei. What do you do? And, more important, who do you attack first? Do you help Nora, or prevent the other thingy from attacking her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The spanner and screwdriver are named Anonymous and Bear because those were the nicknames (well parts of the nickname) of two of my most vocal readers back then


	31. 028

**>  Only you can prevent Nora from dying again.**

Again? 

You don’t know in what kind of sick universe it could have happened, but you are certainly not letting it come true in this one. You aren’t very familiar with her, but she’s your friend and you will protect her! **  
**

**>  Attack the other wolfmonster. Keep it off of Nora. Keep an eye on what Weiss and Zwei are doing, too. Be ready to leap to the rescue if necessary. Weiss is a princess and you are more than ready to be her knight in shining armor, whether she needs you or not.** **  
**

**>  Jump on the one that’s about to attack Nora, while telling Weiss to attack the one Nora’s attacking. Stab the screwdriver into its eye, while smashing the spanner into its head over and over. Avoid the claws and bone. If you kill it before the others kill theirs, sneak around it for a sneak attack. And be ready to run.**

**>  Watch Nora’s back. She seems capable of a frontal assault, but weak against ambushes. You have the numbers advantage, so use it! Ideally, one person to the front and one to the back of each wolf. Pincer and destroy!**

You yell at Weiss to help Nora by attacking the monster on the back and without waiting a second, you jump with Zwei and stab the other thingy in the eye. It roars and takes a step back, obviously in pain. Tightening your grip around your spanner, you mentally swear you’ll take great care of all your future screwdrivers and charge. 

…Oops, it seems like you won’t be able to see the end of the fight, because you are no longer Ruby Rose. Too bad. 

You are now BLAKE BELLADONNA and you’re hiding in a tree beside a river. What do you do? _  
_


	32. 029

**>  Inventory check! Also take a look around from your safe perch up high.**

(monster’s claw,ribbon, eggs) **  
**

**> We’re a kitty now? I can deal. A cat is fine too. First off… what are we hiding from?**

**>  Look around. Assess your surroundings. Who or what are you hiding from?**

You look around lazily. All you see is trees, trees, bushes, and fucking trees. You don’t see any kind of threats, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t here. You’ve felt some weird kind of energy not so long ago, and from your experience you know that the monsters are more active after those. Kind of like it excited them. It’s one of the many things you don’t want to know the reason behind. **  
**

**>  Internal monologue, go!**

**>  Imagine a goat to talk to and pet in your free time. It’ll keep you company! Tell it your life stories.**

You can’t get into an internal monologue because you got used to voicing out loud (but not too loud) your thoughts. You like to think that it helps keeping you sane. 

(Deep down, you know it’s probably just another hint of your decaying sanity, but you’re rather good at pretending not to know it.) 

You don’t want to narrate your life story. It’s depressing to remember how things were before. You prefer focusing on not forgetting the most important things about yourself. Your name is Blake Belladonna. You are french. You are neither a boy nor a girl. Your best friend’s name is Adam. And you are far away from home. 

You would add more things, but your secondary set of ears twitches as you hear something getting closer. You need to keep quiet and stay unnoticed, not getting spotted stupidly because you were narrating to yourself. 

You wait a minute before seeing something popping out of a bush and rushing toward the river to get the most satisfying drink ever judging by their face. 

Something bipedal with blond hair.

..What.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kitty needs a therapist


	33. 030

**>  Take a careful survey of the area before doing anything. Make sure there are no monsters around. Then go talk to this mildly attractive blonde creature currently attempting to absorb half of the river through their face.**

 

**>  Approach the blonde and stay wary of your surroundings. Think of nice happy things… like bumblebees. They’re cute.**

You take another quick look around you. Again, there are no monsters in sight. You don’t hear anything, either, and you like to think that you have a really good hearing. You suppose it’s safe to jump down.

**>  Does the biped look like one of the monsters? If not, call out to them and see if they’re friendly. You’ll probably be safer in a group. Plus,from what you can tell that person is ridiculously good looking. It can’t hurt to have a little company,can it?**

**>  Be careful. Be ready to kill the bipedal yellow one should they prove to be a threat. Imagine petting a goat to calm your nerves, and then say, in a calm but authoritative voice, “Who are you?” Internally, lose your shit because you may have just found someone to talk to in this God forsaken hell hole.**

It doesn’t look like any of the other monsters you’ve ran into. In fact, what it does look like is so ridiculous you think it’s another of your hallucinations.

It looks like a person.

_“[Are you real?]”_

The blondie jumps in surprise at your voice, turning quickly to face you with widened eyes. Your appearance probably doesn’t help her surprise, with your extra pair of ears, your torn and dusty clothes, your scars.

_“~~~?”_

You don’t understand her answer -is that English?- but in all honesty it doesn’t matter to you. What matters is that she talked. Hallucinations rarely talked. It happened, but not often. You take a step forward.

Then another.

Another one.

The blondie takes a step back herself, probably taken aback by the astonished look on your face. Before she can take another, you jump forward and grab her wrist.

_Warm._

_Solid._

**_She’s real._ **

She violently tears her arm out of your grip, growling something that sounds like a threat and walking away from you.

**> Imagine petting the goat god you probably imagined several days ago to keep yourself calm. Draw your claw, and notch it at the girl’s throat. Keep it trained on the blond girl, and ask, steadily, who she is. Tell her you won’t hurt her as long as she answers your questions, including but not limited to: Who are you? How long have you been here? Please don’t mind the claw so much, I wanna make sure you’re real. Where are we? Did you send me here? Have you heard the good word of our lord and savior, Nian? And, do you ship White Rose and Bumbleby?**

****

You want to do that. You really do. You want answers. You _need_ answers.

But you can’t, because you’re too busy turning into a crying and whimpering mess.

_You are not alone._

**_You are not alone._ **

It takes you a moment to collect yourself, moment during which the stranger just stares at you, obviously not knowing what to do. You wipe your eyes and take a big breathe. You’re okay. you’re not alone.

She keeps staring.

You suppose you should say something.


	34. 031

**>  Okay, first, try to assure her you aren’t crazy. First, say “Hello, my name is Blake Belladonna”, in each language you know. If she doesn’t know any language, draw lines in the dirt to show how long you’ve been alone here. Hopefully, she’ll understand your surprise at seeing her. Either way, we’re probably going to be spending a lot of time trying to mime stuff. If she does, communicate with it. And travel with her, if you can. Keep her close. You’re not alone anymore, but remember: That is a fact which is subject to change. Imagine the goat god, and imagine petting it. Just because you’ve met a nice girl who probably thinks you’re insane doesn’t mean they’ll let you pat their heads.**

**>  Introduce yourself to the best of your ability.**

You really hope you’ll be able to convince her you’re sane, because this is something even you is doubting right now. You clear your throat and start to talk -Jesus, has your voice always been so hoarse?- _  
_

_“Bonjour. Mon nom est Blake.”_

The blondie only blinks in response. Oh. Right. She didn’t talk french earlier. You guess she’s from somewhere else. God. You try again. _  
_

_“My name is Blake.”_

And, just in case, in German. _  
_

_“Mus name ist Blake.”_

Ah, this time her face lighten up. She seems to have understood you. _  
_

_“~~~~~~?!”_

You, on the other hand, doesn’t understand the answer. Though, you’re sure it’s English this time. Too bad. You speak English as well as you speak German, so potato-level. _  
_

_“I don’t understanding.”_

You at least know that much. She looks puzzled, so you kneel down and quickly draw a dozen sticks in the dirt, then looks at her, pointing at yourself. _  
_

_“Days alone.”_

Her looks goes from confused to very concerned in a matter of seconds. You suppose it means you’ve managed to make yourself understood. That’s good. You mindlessly pet the goat next to you and her concern become even more apparent. It may be related to the fact that the goat you’re petting isn’t real. Who knows. Not you anymore, for sure. **  
**

**>  Offer her some of your eggs. She was very thirsty, she might be hungry as well.**

You rummage in your pocket before pulling out three round eggs. You’d managed to steal them this morning. You know food is scarce and you should economize it, but you’re willing to give them away if you can get just some human contact from it. She looks at them hungrily, but instead of launching herself on them like you thought she would, she just took them and put them in her own pockets. Then she speaks again, pointing at herself. _  
_

_“Yang.”_

Well. Looks like you’ll be able to start a conversation, after all. Do you want to ask anything to Yang? Or do you want to leave? And if you do, where to?


	35. 032

**> Point at the tally marks in the dirt, and ask how long she’s been there. Tell her not to mind the goat petting, you’ve just been having hallucinations lately and the goat was cute. You may or may not be a holy prophet, by the by. Ask about bonethingies, and, if you can without disturbing yourself, remember how many you have killed. Try to ask where y'all should go. Ask if she came here alone. Anything that might indicate HOW you got here.**

**>  Try to ask Yang how long she’s been here, if she has weapons and is able to defend herself. If you’re going to head somewhere else, it would be best to follow the river in the direction it is flowing.**

**>  Ask her how long she’s been here and if she’s seen anyone else. Ask if she knows about the monsters.**

You point at the lines in the dirt, then at her. She looks puzzled a second, then get it. She kneels down and erase all the sticks, except three, and says, waving her hand as if she wasn’t suite sure. _  
_

_“Hours.”_

Lucky girl. Then she waves a hand around, pronouncing a single simple word again

_“Where?”_

You shake your head and shrug. You don’t know where you both are. You’d kill to, though. 

-secretly, you’re happy that she’s adapting her speech to your dorito-leveled English. It’s nice to actually be able to talk to someone, even if it’s only by snippets and pieces of real sentences- 

The next thing you ask is if she’d seen any monsters. Or, more exactly, you mime someone looking around, then something threatening with claws and teeth. She looks puzzled. She probably haven’t met any. 

She points at the top of your head, making your ears twitch in reflex. It takes you a few seconds to figure out how to mime it, but eventually you manage to do some kind of weird pop-up sign with your hands. You’re not sure she got it though. **  
**

**> ask the yang to join your adventure**

You point at her, then you, then mimes two people walking together with your fingers. She doesn’t look happy about it, but she eventually nods. You suppose you’d be wary too if you’d met a crazy half-animal person in the middle of an unknown place. Good thing she’s aware that she shouldn’t stay alone. 

You’d like to continue the Q & A, but your ears twitch again and you tense up. Something is coming. Something big. You shouldn’t stay here. You grab her arm and run as fast as you can without losing her, following the river. She yelps in surprise, but somewhat follow you. 

(You’ve learned long ago that you should never leave water when you’ve found it. Not if you can help it.) 

When you stop, you’re breathing heavily -not as badly as Yang, though, who’s leaning against a tree panting loudly- and the sun looks like it’s going to set. 

Good. It means you’re both alive. _  
_

_What should you do?_


	36. 033

**> Yang against a tree panting… you try not to look at her and fight a losing battle against the imagery in your head.**

You don’t look at her, because you’re too busy making sure there isn’t any dangers around. Living here for this long made you paranoid like that. 

… Nah. It’s cool. Yang seems to have calmed down too, seeing how she’s glaring at you. _  
_

_“~~~wrong~~you?!!”_

…Oh, right, you didn’t have the time to explain her everything. Too bad. At least you know just what you need of english to explain this time. _  
_

_“Danger. Big. Needed runned.”_

She looks at you weirdly, but doesn’t add a thing. Either she is processing the information or thinking about a way to get away from your insane skin. **  
**

**> You could use a break from all that stress. Is that catnip you see by the riverbed? ‘Go ahead. Try it.’ If Nian, our lord and savior is for it, it can’t be a bad idea, can it?!**

You’d rather not. You’ve already tried catnip before, and you know this is not what you need if you don’t want to get killed. Beside, the goat is shaking his head. He doesn’t approve. **  
**

**>  Look around you. Use the remaining sunlight to try to find shelter and collect food if anything in your surroundings looks edible. Climb into a tree, if there are any nearby and take turns keeping watch (for bonethingies, not each other). Huddle together for warmth when it gets cold.** **  
**

**>  Climb tree. Be monkeys.**

**>  Drink plenty from the river of life, given to us by Nian Goat. Indicate climbing a tree, and then mime sleeping while pointing up at the sun to Yang. It wouldn’t do to walk around outside while the sun’s down. And make sure to keep both sets of ears open to listen for more BoneThingies.**

You point at the tallest tree, then mime sleeping. She agrees. 

You both take a long sip of the river, you quickly collect some berries and edible leaves, and you both climb up and sit on a branch. You share what little food you have before cuddling and falling into some kind of half-sleep. Your ears are open. Nothing will surprise you. _  
_

_What should you do when you wake up?_


	37. 034

**>  First thing’s first- make sure Yang is still there and still real. Try not to admire her striking beauty in the morning sunlight for TOO long. Taking a few seconds is okay. Maybe a full minute. No more than five, that’s getting creepy.**

**>  First, check how Yang is doing. Then, check the area. If it’s safe go down back tot he ground and eat, then drink.**

She’s here. 

You blink a few times to be sure, but you’re not dreaming. 

She’s here and real and present and you are not alone. 

You can’t remember a better morning in your life. 

She doesn’t seem as happy as you, though. She looks worried, actually. She probably didn’t sleep very well **.**

**>  Scan your surroundings for possible enemies or allies. Make sure you and Yang aren’t hungry/thirsty and if it’s safe, go back to the river and continue in the direction you where headed in.**

That and also there’s a huge bear monster below. It sure would worry anyone who isn’t used to them. But it’s okay. You can take it. It isn’t the most dangerous of the creatures lurking here, honestly.

Yang points at the bear, then at you with a horrified face. You shrug, and mime fighting by lightly punching your palm. Her face goes paler. You think she understood. 

You two argue with signs for a moment, figuring out if you should attack, and if ye _s, how_ to attack. Eventually, you both agree for jumping on its back and sink your weapon in its throat. If it keeps moving afterwards, Yang informs you that she can punch it until its very bones break. Seeing her arms and muscles, you don’t doubt that affirmation. You’re about to attack, but the blonde stop you again. _  
_

_“~~see~~~another person~~?”_

Your confusion is probably apparent because she explains herself right after. _  
_

_“~~~~~sister.”_

..Oh. That’s..sad. But you have to shake your head. You haven’t seen anyone beside her in this goddamned hell. She looks disappointed, but doesn’t insist. 

You both jump on the bear. 

Or more exactly, you would if you were Blake Belladonna at the moment. Which you aren’t anymore. 

Your name is PYRRHA NIKOS, and after three days walking in this damned field, you’ve finally encountered something out of the ordinary that isn’t a weird shadow monster. _  
_

_What do you do?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't know how to write fight scenes so I just switched pov when it happened


	38. 035

**>  Get a head rush because your POV has been shifting around before wondering where this thought came from. You are you, no more! No Less!**

You’re not sure you understand that thought. It just popped up a second in your head, like.. a suggestion? ..Nah, that’s silly. It still makes you dizzy a few seconds though. You should probably focus on more important matter for now. **  
**

**>  Look around you. Consider starting an animal sanctuary. What is it that you’ve found? Calmly assess the situation. Think of Nian goat. You don’t know Nian goat yet, don’t worry, you will. Either way, try to get an assessment of your sanity.**

You don’t know how you could do that, but in all cases you’re sane enough to know that this idea is stupid.That’s not much, but you’ll take it. **  
**

**>  Check your surroundings, and your inventory. Think back to what happened these past few days. Watch the thing. Get ready to fight, if necessary**

You’re in some kind of weird half-field half-forest place. Thus, trees and bushes surround you, and the grass is so tall you now understand how can wild pokemons hide in them in the video games. You quickly check your inventory:

  * Raw meat, x7
  * Broken spear
  * Jewelry



You don’t think you’ll be able to fight if something pop up in front of you though, you’re still hurt from your last encounter. You’re currently pressing a bloodied cloth on the right side of your face, where a sharp claw had made its way to cut your cheek in half and widen your smile. You don’t think you’ll be able to avoid getting a scar out of it. Not that you care much, to be honest. Being alive is far more important to you. **  
**

**>  POKE IT NOW DO IT POKE IT**

You poke the thing. 

…. Well. 

You’re sure it’s really just an ordinary piece of fabric now. 

You carefully take it with your spare hand. The fabric, in itself, isn’t that noticeable. It’s green, looks like it’d been torn off its original clothe, and probably _has_ been torn off since you found it hanging on a pointed branch. There’s some blood on it, though not that much. 

No, the fabric doesn’t matter to you. 

It’s what it means that does. 

Someone went here. 

Recently, judging by the color of the blood. 

Someone went here and you are not alone. 

Quietly, you start sobbing. 

_What should you do once you’ve collected yourself?_


	39. 036

**>  Collect yourself. Grab cloth and keep it with you. You may not need it for practical use, but it’ll at least serve as a reminder that you’re not alone.**

You’re still sniffing, but you’re better now. You put the clothe in your inventory and remind yourself to take a look at it if you ever feel down again.

**>  try and find the person that the clothe belongs too. It could be Ren, cause ya know. He wears green.**

You can neither confirm nor deny this theory because you have no idea who that Ren person is. You don’t even know why did the name pop up in your head. Weird. **  
**

**>  Try to find a trail, blood, foot prints, something of that order, to track down the person that was here recently. If you find any, start following them, slowly and carefully. If you can’t, move forward. Keep yourself together, by the by. How bad’s the wound? Just a small, if deep, cut, or a full Glasglow Grin? (GLASGLOW GRIMM, KEEP THAT IN MIND IN CASE YOU RUN INTO A BLONDE. IF YOU DO, SAY IT TOO THEM) And remember: The darkness will pass.**

Saying the wound is deep is an understatement. Your cheek has been cut in half. You don’t know if you can call it a full Glasglow grin since technically you only have half of one, but the scar it’ll leave will certainly makes you look like the Joker. 

Despite that, a tiny spark of hope lights up in your heart. That’s right. Darkness will pass. You are not dead yet. **  
**

**>  See if you can track down whoever left that cloth behind. They might need help!** **  
**

**> Look for more signs of recent passerby; try to find a trail and follow it.**

**>  If someone was here recently, they may have left tracks. If you can’t find any tracks, orient yourself towards the sun. Then, walk in the other direction so that anything looking in your direction will be blinded by the sun. Look for water, and don’t lose hope. Remember: there are other people here who may be able to help you!**

It’s detail, but if you look closely, you can see that the tall grass are slightly bent at some points. It may be a false alarm, but it also could be the trail left by someone walking through them. Weak theory, but you’ll take it. 

You start following the trail, being careful to avoid any creatures you see from afar, fail spotting that one scorpion hiding next to you, run, climb on a tree, wait for it to pass, continue your route, until, when you were almost sure you’d lost the track, you see a couple figures sitting on a tree. You’re too far to see them well enough, and they don’t seem to have spotted you yet. 

_What do you do?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been copy pasting those chapters for an hour now I'm nowhere near done kill me now b ruh


	40. 037

**>  Carefully get closer, keep an eye out for anything else that might be around. They have the height advantage and you can too if you think those branches can support your trip over there.**

You go slowly, as to avoid surprising them with any kind of noises. You keep an eye around, and notice the corpse of a couple monsters not that far. You suppose whoever they are they were careful to make the place safe before making themselves comfortable.

As you get closer, you can see more details about them. They’re both male, one of them wearing yellow and the second one green -now you know where is the cloth from- The green one seems hurt though, judging by the way he’s holding his side.

..There was blood, after all.

**> Approach cautiously. Very cautiously. You don’t want to startle them. Try calling out to them.**

**>  Slowly go closer until you can see what they look like more clearly. If they look friendly, say hello. Take out your weapon,though. It may be broken, but it could still intimidate them.**

You get spotted before you have the occasion to say anything. The yellow boy immediatly raise a branch to protect himself, though you don’t think he’ll be able to hurt a fly if he keeps shaking like this.

You raise your free hand and calmly -because it hurts really bad when you shout- call out for them. Both of the boys look confused a second, then looks at each others briefly before they gesture at you to get up with them. It’s not easy, since you can only use one arm, but with some help you manage to make your way up and sit on a spare branch.

You take a few seconds to catch your breath, and notice that the boys are now looking at each others awkwardly. You don’t think they have any ideas about what to do.

You should probably initiate communication then.

What should you say or do?


	41. 038

**>  Shove Jaune off the tree**

Who is Jaune?

**>  Introduce yourself by pointing at your chest and stating your name. Try and find out their names too. Also, check to see if either of them speak your language.**

_“Pyrrha.”_

They look at you weirdly, probably not used to the sonority of your name, but eventually nod. The blonde introduce himself first;

_“Jaune.”_

Then the asian-looking wounded boy:

_“Ren.”_

That’s a start.

**>  Attempt conversation with the two boys. If they don’t speak your common language, try using hand motions to convey what you want to ask. Ask how long they’ve been here, what their names are, and if they’ve encountered any of the bone creatures. And, maybe ask for some food and water after you get acquainted, because being malnourished is never fun.**

You quickly start a conversation after learning their names, but it’s obvious that they don’t understand a word, so you stop. After a second, it’s Ren who’s the first one to talk.

_“From?”_

His accent is sick, but you can still understand him. You’re used to weird accents after all, thanks to your last Olympic Games.

_“Greece.”_

That’s one of the few things you can say, at least.

He nods and point at himself, then Jaune.

_“China. France.”_

He falls back into silence after.

The next part of the conversation is composed of weird hand gestures and single badly-pronounced English words. It doesn’t stop you from getting the answers you wanted, though. You quickly learn that yes, they had encountered monsters, no, they had no ideas how they ended here, and they’d been here for five days for Ren and two for Jaune.

When the q&a is over, Jaune suggest sharing food and water. You all agree and you give away some of your meat, getting in exchange some herbs, nuts, and a strange syrup that tastes sweet.

They also ask you if you want to travel with them. You accept.

The sun won’t set before a few hours. You can still move around. What do you do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen I'm tired af so I'll post the rest tomorrow aright


	42. 039

**>  Try to find a d20 lying around somewhere. Try to cast ‘Tongues’ and roll a natural 20. If you succeed, you won’t have to worry about language barriers for the rest of the gam-… for the rest of 10 minutes!**

…

You are

On a tree

In the middle of nowhere.

For some reasons, you think it’s really unlikely for you to find a d20 here.

**> Take charge of the group. You’re a natural leader.**

Well umh. Since your group is currently composed of a noodle and an apathetic dude, you think you’re the most qualified for this job. No offense.

**>  Inventory check. You know what? EVERYTHING check. Their skills, backgrounds, yours, discuss all this, and get all the information you need so that you all know your chances of survival or if y’all should start making tombstones (Consider making a coffin store if you ever get out of this. Put Nian goat on every coffin to get ahead of the competition.). See to Ren’s wound, ask how deep it is. If you have something like string in your inventory, consider if you can stitch your cheek shut.**

Inventory check:

Pyrrha: Random edible stuff x5

             Broken spear x1

             Bloodied cloth x1

Jaune: Water bottle x1

            Stick x 1

            Spare socks x2

            Random edible stuff x5

Ren: String x5

        Needle x2

        Dried noodles x1

        Random edible food x1

You do your best to ask about the rest, but you quickly have to give up; you have roughly donut-level in English, Ren speaks it mixed up with something sounding like Dutch or German, and Jaune is dorito. The only things you manage to know, though more from observation than actual talking, are that Ren practice martial art regulatory and and Jaune probably play some kind of sport too but isn’t really good at it. Also Ren likes to sew.

You ask Ren via pointing and tilting your head about his wound. He removes his hand to show you. It isn’t too deep, and most of his clothes stopped it from bleeding, but it still left him weak. You can hardly blame him.

You then point at the strings and needle, then your mouth. It’s clear by his face that he thinks it’s a terrible idea, but eventually he nods and accepts to do it. Jaune looks away.

…

..

.

_It hurt._

**>  Scan your surroundings for landmarks, rivers, settlements, that sort of thing. If you’re going to survive, you’ll need a steady supply of food and water and some shelter**

It takes you a few minutes to collect yourself after having your cheek sewed back as a whole, but as soon as you can you do just that. That tree perfect to see things from afar. Unfortunately, you don’t see anything nearly as great close to you.

You guess you could use the rest of the light to walk and see if you ran into anything useful.

….Ooooooooooor…… you could stay here and make sure it’s a safe place. After all, you got food, water, and are sure nobody can climb up there. Plus, two out of you three are wounded, and you don’t think the third really count if you need back up in a fight.

Explaining the boys what you want is hard, but eventually, you all manage to set up some kind of twisted cabin for the night. You got walls, some sort of roof, and this is the best thing you’ve ever seen since waay too long.

God you love roofs.

**> Try and come up with some kind of sleeping arrangement so that someone is always on watch—there are no trees to avoid ambush in the close area, is there? Offer to take first watch to establish a form of trust between your new companions, if you feel like you can wait without resting for a while.**

You suggest that to the boys. While they both refuse to let you take the first round and Ren insist to be first, they accept the idea happily. That’s nice.

You make yourself as comfortable as you can while in a tree and close your eyes. You really need to rest.

… … …

Too bad you, on the other hand, can’t really rest at the moment. In case you haven’t guessed yet, you are not Pyrrha Nikos anymore. You are now VERY TINY and VERY PISSED at the two other assholes in front of you.

_“I can’t believe they actually survived that long. Older people got killed in a couple days.”_

_“Luck was on their sides, obviously. Though, this is still impressive.”_

_“Oh, please, we both know this isn’t entirely true. You’re just saying that because you can’t stand me being right, like always.”_

_“Oh, shut up you fucking witch. This is-”_

You slam your fist on the table violently, glaring. They get the message immediately. You already hate them, you don’t want to have to deal with their stupid bickering on top of that.

_Who cares? They’ll play. I’m sure._

_“You said that about the others too-”_

_“Actually, I’m on their side.”_

_“….You just want to say the opposite of what I say aren’t you.”_

_“Yes, but even without that, I still trust them more than I trust you. It doesn’t mean a lot, but still.”_

_“…..I bet my card will be drawn out first.”_

_“Fuck off, trainboy.”_

… … .

You are suddenly YOUNGER and TALLER. It may be related to the fact that you are not whoever that was anymore.

You are now back to RUBY ROSE and it’d been three days since you’ve met Nora. Finally, something interesting that didn’t involve punching monsters is happening.

There’s smoke in the distance again.

_What do you do?_


	43. 040

**>  Mental health check! Roll for SAN. How’s things been with the group? Reflect on the past three days since you last had a bunch of voices in your head suggesting what to do with Weiss and Holy Nian. How’s it felt to not have those voices anymore (You HAVE noticed the voices, right? Don’t worry, you’re not crazy, each of us is a different individual suggesting the best actions into your head to survive). Anyway. After you’re done, indicate the smoke, and sneak up on it. Be ready to run.**

Things have been… Well. Not that bad, thinking about it. You got a nasty cut to your arm, but you’ve bandaged it with scraps of your cape.Those past days have been pretty boring, you’ve just walked and walked and sometimes stopped to sleep and eat but that was really all. Nothing worth telling, in your opinion.

….What voices?

You don’t like the implications of this. You don’t hear voices. At all. You think, and sometimes you have odd thoughts, that’s it. Sometimes, your body move even if you didn’t want too, too. But that is. All.

There are no voices. You are not insane. You’re just you, and you’re trying to survive, nothing else. Please don’t imply things like this again it’s scary.

(Even though those days have been pretty weird since no idea popped up in your had nearly as quickly as before.)

**> First off, check to see if you’re holding Weiss’s hand or not (or if she is holding yours; these are two different things after all). Second, take stock of how you, Weiss, Nora, and Zwei are doing. Consider referring to yourselves as Team RWNZ (team runes). Third, ask the others if they want to go check out the smoke.**

You are not. Why would you? She can walk by herself.

Your left arm is a bit weak, and you apparently got some weird super-sped ability somehow but other than that, you’re fine. The others are good too. Weiss got some weird super-power thingy too. It’s strange. But you didn’t really have the occasion to stop and think about it so you don’t know much. Too bad.

**>  tell Weiss and Nora about the flame**

Nora wriggles excitingly. Weiss tells you that she does have eyes, thank you.

You’re starting to understand those two better. Too bad it’s to understand Weiss’s snarky angry remarks.

**>  Go towards the smoke but be careful. If it’s an uncontrolled fire, you might find yourself trapped by the blaze.** **  
**

**>  SMOKESMOKESMOKESMOKE Ahem. Go towards the smoke. Bring along the goat you found yesterday.**

Of curse you’ll bring the goat! You didn’t go through all the troubles of chasing it killing it and sharing its meat to leave this food behind.

You and your team approach carefully, but soon enough it’s obvious that it isn’t a wild fire. On the road, you run into a couple dead bonethingies -and big ones- until you reach the source of the fire.

It’s a village.

And you don’t mean a village as in ‘abandonned village full of skeletons’. You mean village as in 'there are neat houses all around and living people and food hanging around.’

You think you’re tearing up a little.

A couple of the village’s inhabitants -a man so tall you wonder if he isn’t twice your height and another one with tattoos- notice you and walk toward you. They’re carrying weapons, but don’t seem threatening.

_What do you do and say?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey look exposition is coming


	44. 041

**> Well, all the people you’ve met so far have been pretty nice. Greet these people with all the enthusiasm and relief you feel! But don’t forget to mourn those you’ve lost- such as Nian Goatfriend, or the goat He sent unto you in order to keep you fed and healthy. Never forget.**

You can’t. You’re too astonished by the fact that there are, you know, _people_ there to think straightly enough to do that. You do smile widely though. Better than nothing, right?

**>  Wave with both hands to show that you are not currently armed. Just remember that you can arm yourself fairly quickly if needed.** **  
**

**> Hold your hands up to show you’re not threatening. But be ready to maim this guy if he tries to rob you or anything. Find a common language, sign stuff, yada yada, you know this jazz and dance routine, basic communication issues. Say a prayer to Nian goat under your breath. Be ready to run. Let the village act first. Oh, and by the way, because you ate that goat, you failed the SAN check. You’re now a bit remorseful for eating the goat. It was adorable. Resolve to never eat a goat again.**

When you finally get out of your daze, the strangers are merely a few steps away from you. You see, from the corner of your eyes, Weiss slowly raising her hands. You decide to do the same.

The taller man smile and tells you something you don’t understand. Then he points at you, then  one of the houses, and motion for you all to follow him. That’s something you understand, on the other hand.

You decide to follow him inside.

**>  Try to communicate with them. Maybe you’re lucky and they speak a language you know. If not, try to explain through hand gestures that you are friendly, have valuble skills and want in on their (seemingly safe) village**

On the way to the cabin, you try talking to the giant. Surprisingly, he understand you. You weren’t expecting it, to be honest.

_“English?”_

You nod.

_“Sorry, not good at it. Japanese.”_

You tell him it’s okay. Then you step inside and he call out for someone, before waving at the probably-makeshift pillows on the floor and ask you to sit down. You do, puzzled. He asks you if you are hungry or thirsty or anything. As you answer, someone else join you in the cabin and sit in front of you. A girl, more exactly.

Also she has bunny ears.

_“Hello!”_

…..That’s a hell of a sick australian accent.

_“We get a lot of visitors those times, it’s funny. Anyway, our leader isn’t here, but you can rest here if you want anyway. If you got questions, you can also ask them, I’ll do my best to answer.”_

Oh hell yeah someone you can finally have an actual conversation with.


	45. 042

**> Ask the girl’s name and how long she’s been there. Ask if she’s encountered any of the bone thingies or if she’s developed weird superpowers too (along with, you know, the bunny ears). Basically try to exchange as much information as possible.**

A small smile appears on the girl’s lips. You aren’t sure why. Maybe she’s happy to have someone who can have a civil understandable conversation with too.

_“The name’s Velvet. What about you?”_

As you quickly introduce yourself and your team, two other men enter the cabin, carrying food and water. They don’t leave right after, however, and proceed with sit next to your teammates and attempt to communicate. They seemed to have a rough knowledge of English, along with a few other languages you don’t recognize. Soon enough, the blonde guy with a monkey tail is babbling happily with Nora and doing large hand gestures together, while the other one with weird spiky hair exchange grammatically incorrect English sentences with Weiss.

Velvet tells you not a lot of people come here, so they’re all excited. She also tells you she doesn’t mind you eating and asking things at the same time if you want. You keep that in mind and shove an entire piece of something similar to bread up your mouth before asking about the bonethingies.

_“You mean, the monsters? Yeah, met them. Would be hard not to, to be honest. There are a lot of different kinds, some looking like normal animals in the real world, like bears or wolves, while others… don’t.”_

_“We don’t know much, sadly. Though, the bigger and more spiky they are, the older and wiser. So while I wouuldn’t recommend any monsters really, especially avoid the huge ones. They’re the most dangerous.”_

You’ll keep that in mind.

**> Ask Velvet about her ears. If they’re not a sensitive subject. Also, whisper to Velvet that you were here first, and you have a better chance of getting together with Weiss than she does, so she shouldn’t bother. But see if see if she has any tips for getting Weiss’s love.**

Velvet shrugs. Next to you, Nora bursts out laughing and rolls on her back.

_“They just popped up. It’s something that had  happened to everyone I’ve met so far. First, you feel good and you heal faster than normally. Then you get some really nice powers. And then, after, like, a dozen days, animal parts pop up on you. Some, like me, or Sun and Neptune behind you, get only one trait. Others get more, like ears and tail at the same time, for instance.”_

_“It’s pretty mysterious.”_

**> Ask how long they’ve been here and what is with this place?**

_“About three months, I’d say.”_

She chuckles sadly.

_“I’m not sure I want to know, to be honest.”_

**>  Ask Velvet how much she knows about where you are. Also, maybe ask for some tips on overcoming language barriers?**

_“By here, you mean this world? Or the village?”_

_“In all cases I can only answer the latter. When I got here I met a few people and after some times travelling together we decided to build a place to actually live. Then some other people joined us and ta-dah! First village around.”_

_“And about language barrier… Hand gestures? Also, your teammates and you should try to communicate verbally, even if you don’t understand what does the other say. With time you tend to pick up some words and stuff and you start to understand them.”_

**> Ask her about EVERTHING. The bonethingies,why you’re all here, how to win Weiss over, what she knows about this place,EVERYTHING. And now that you’re in a place with more people, try to find everyone at least one person they share a language with. If there are any bilingual people there, try to get them to help with communication between different languages.**

**> Ask if she has any sort of idea what’s going on, what they’re doing here, or if she knows anything you don’t in general.**

_“Someone else came here a couple days ago. A tall blonde and a half-cat girl.”_

_“The blonde was looking for her sister.”_

You have to catch yourself in order to not split out the water you’ve been drinking. What?

_“What was her name????”_

You face goes pale when you hear the answer.

_“Do you know in where they went?”_

She tells you North. Definitively something you won’t forget.When you’re sure you can breathe properly, you reassure your teammates and go back to Velvet.

_“Anything else?”_

_“….”_ She seems to hesitate.

_“I know a way out of this world.”_

_“When you go North -toward the mountains- you end up reaching a point with huge rocks stopping you from going further. When you touch one of them, rules appear.”_

_“This place… It’s like a board game, you see? If you beat the game and get out, you get powers, access to the resources in this world, a lot of great things. But you have to go through… things. Things way worse than the monsters you’ve seen. And if you lose, it’s your life that’s taken as a prize.”_

This time, you’re not the only one to freeze. Nora stop giggling. Weiss stop butchering the English language. Even Zwei raises its head. Your partners ask you if they understood right. You repeat them what Velvet said, in fewer and less complicated words. For a moment, none of you move.

You weren’t expecting that.

_Any other questions?_


	46. 043

**>  Ask her how she knows the rules. Don’t be accusing, play it cool. Ask the rabbit to come along. With her friends, you will be strong. The game’s afoot so sally forth. For your sister and exit, you must head North.**

**> Ask her if she’s tried the challenges yet, and what they’re like.**

She shifts uncomfortably and averts her gaze.

_“…We tried, once. When you touch the first stone, the rules appears. If you choose to keep going, you get other rocks giving you riddles and warnings about what’s coming after you. Sometimes it’s monsters, sometimes natural disasters.. It can be pretty much anything, I think. You gotta go past all of this and reach the top of the mountain to leave. This isn’t a hard game to understand, really.”_

_“And before you ask, yeah, we backed up. Monsters here are predictable and easy to avoid. The older ones are more dangerous, but we can still deal with them. What’s behind the first stone is way more dangerous. We decided it wasn't worth it.”_

Fear to die, then. Understandable. You ask if she want to join your group. Surprisingly, she shakes her head.

_“Sorry, but I think it’s too late for us now. I highly doubt any of us will be able to readapt to normal life at this point. Beside…”_

She leans in, whispering in your ear to prevent Sun and Neptune to hear.

_“I don’t want to lose them. I know they feel the same. It’s not much, but we’re alive and together, and we’re happy. Nobody here want to risk that for something we’re not even sure we’ll be able to get.”_

You weren’t expecting that either. She gives you an apologetic smile.

_“We’ll help you all getting prepared if you want to leave, though. We got food and water. And we can upgrade your weapons too. Just ask and we’ll do our best to help.”_

**> Hurry go and catch up with yang**

It’s no use; Velvet said Yang was here a couple days ago. She’s already far enough to prevent you from catching up with her in less than a few days. She can wait a few hours more for your team to rest.


	47. 044

**>  Ask if they have any raw materials or a forge. You might be able to craft something better… maybe a scythe…**

Velvet tell you they do. As soon as you’re done eating, you rush toward it and crack your knuckles.

Time to make some cool weapons.

It takes you some time, but with the help of the one-legged redhead in charge of the forge -Scarlet, they tell you- you manage to make an AWESOME giant scythe. Too bad you couldn’t make it also a gun, you’re sure it’d have kicked ass.

When you leave, you see Nora heading in your direction. She tells you she want to try crafting something too. Behind you, Scarlet groans but doesn’t complain. You supposed they’re just grumpy by nature.

**> In that case, relax a bit, eat a bit, stock up on supplies, and make sure all of you are armed.**

You do. You take a quick nap in a bed more comfy than tree branches, you stock up food and water, along with bandages, meet the various inhabitant of the village who all speak English to various degrees -Sun and Neptune, who you’ve seen earlier, and Yatsuhashi and Sage, those you saw first, who quickly inform you that Fox and Coco, whoever they are, are out hunting for now- and get some advices about what berries you can eat and can’t, how to lit a fire safely, ect.

You know you can’t stay here for long, but still, you enjoy yourself.

**> You want to catch up with yang and the French nonbinary cat hottie before they start the game. Whatever happens, you gotta do it WITH your sister!**

What?

You’re not sure you understand. On the other hand, you don’t think you can understand a loot of things either right now. You’re head is spinning too much.

Your name is YANG XIAO LONG and judging by your partner’s panicked face and the amount of blood you feel on your palm pressed on the side of your head, you don’t think you’ll be able to hear anything from your right ear again.


	48. 045

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to tumblr user Temporalten for making those illustration, you rock mi hermani

**>  taking a line from experimentquest, cause it’s awesome, check yourself before you wreck yourself. What the hell happened Yang?**

It was stupid, really. You were walking toward the mountain, and you encountered another wolf monster and fought. But this one… it was different. Bigger. Spikier. Wiser. Even with Velvet’s previous warning, you were still caught off-guard by its speed and strength, and it happened to lend a lucky blow on the side of your head. No big deal.

Okay, kind of a big deal actually. You were blinded by adrenaline at first, so you didn’t really notice the pain until you and Blake were done killing this thing. But now that your head is spinning with bloodloss and your hand is mindlessly running on the edge of what was your ear, you’re pretty sure a good half of it is plainly missing.  And it hurt. A lot.

Fuck.

**>  Reassure Blake. Tell a bad pun. Lighten the mood. You don’t want to worry this gorgeous friend of yours too much. Once they seem more at ease, try and assess the damage and the situation.**

You crack a weak smile and say with the happiest tone you can manage to do:

_“No worries, Blakey, it’s not that bad. I feel saintlike, to be honest. Holey, even.”_

They don’t react, pulling your hand away in order to bandage your head with their ribbon. Oh right. Language barrier. You’d almost forgotten.

**> Take a look around you. Assess the situation. And, in fact, do this every few minutes from now on so that when you get crazier ideas in your head, you won’t get ideas telling you to take stock of the situation because you will already have done so. Get ready to run, and make sure you run with that girl you’re probably becoming steadily more and more attracted too. Say a prayer to Nian.**

Let’s see. You’re hurt, travelling with a -while badass and helpful- lunatic, your sister is still desperately missing, next to you is laying the corpse of the largest monster you’ve ever killed, and you can’t even go further north because there’s some kind of huge wall of big rocks on the way. That’s it. That’s your situation. And it sucks.

You don’t think you’ll be able to move a around again before a moment, you’re too light-headed for that. You should probably take care of whatever you have left to do before switching to someone else, whatever that means.


	49. 046

**>  Relax, try to distract yourself from the pain in your ear. Stay in one place in the trees for as long as you need too. Also, and I can’t believe I’m just thinking of this now, leave a trail. Not one for the Bonethingies to follow, but one only a sentient person would recognize. A pile of rocks with an indication of where you’re headed, for example. Start leaving these behind, all the time. After you’re ready, start heading back to the village for better directions.**

That sounds like a great idea. You’ll probably start to do that as soon as you start travelling again. You share the idea with Blake, who seems to agree.

Good.

**>  Ask Blake about this “Nian Goat” they mumble about several times a day. Ask them if it’s a cult. Ask if you can join. Tell them you want to praise the beauty of Nian Goat, that you wish to sing praises to Nian Goat and wear Nian’s symbol on your shoulders and neck. Tell them that you wish for the entire world to worship Nian Goat as their lord and savior, and that you will carry their holy word to the grave. Then, consider that you MAY be going insane because you want to worship a goat.**

This is, by far, one of the best ‘what the fuck’ face anyone had ever done in front of you. You’re kind of proud, to be honest.

They tell you it’s a goat. Just a goat. That doesn’t even exist. Then they check your forehead to see if you have a fever.

…God this place is really messing with your head.

**> Take a break and try to eat and drink for now so your body can heal back the blood you’re losing. Then become Zwei.**

You don’t have much to eat, nor to drink, actually, but you and Blake share the few you have and consume it. You’re still dizzy, but you’ll survive. Wouldn’t be against a nap though.

You’ll probably take one later.

For now, you can’t, because you just became ZWEI. You’re not quite sure where you’re heading, but you’re following your pack so it’s probably a good place. Rose, as you call her, your leader, is in all cases eager to go there. You more or less understood that she was looking for someone from her family. You like the idea. Rose is nice, her 'sister’ must be just as nice as her!

Sharp seems rather indifferent to where they’re going, as long as they’re not in danger, and Sweet keeps looking around like she expected something to pop up at any times. It’s weird, compared to how she was before the Big Place Full Of People, but you suppose you shouldn’t worry about it.

_What do you do?_


	50. 047

**>  Okay, so, Zwei, you’re new, so you’re going to be getting a bunch of crazy ideas in your head from now on for a while. This is one of them. Try to hook up Rose and Sharp up. They are ideal mates for each other. And an Alpha NEEDS a good mate, right? If you hook those two up, the pack can only get stronger! And you NEED strength in a place like this. So, what you’re going to do, is SUBTLY try to get Sharp to fall into Rose’s arms when you’re sure no monsters are waiting to eat you. Nian.**

Mmmh, this makes sense! But you think your Alpha is strong enough to choose a mate by herself. You’ll try to help making this happen, but you’ll respect your Leader’s decision.

Oh, look, a butterfly!

**> Alright, so Sweet seems sad. Use your Puppy Charms to cheer her up! Make sure to keep your ears open for any noise, though. Nian knows that Rose is gonna be distracted by Sharp’s beauty at some point AND THEN EVERYTHING WILL GO WRONG and you need to be ready for that.**

**> Do some antics to cheer everyone up. Sharp is always so prickly, she could use a good friend like Rose so try to make them play together.**

You bark cutely and catch up with Sharp to rub your cheek against her leg. She doesn’t stop walking, but you hear in her breathing that it made her smile. And to humans, smiles are happiness! Right?

Mission accomplished. You’re quite proud of yourself.

**> Flop down on Rose’s feet and make her carry you.**

You’d like to, but you don’t feel safe enough in this area to engage petting rituals with your Alpha. You should save it for later.

**>  Become Ruby Rose.**

You are now TRAINDUDE, aka-

_“Fuck off. No one but me can be me. I hit Game Over, remember?”_

Ooooops, my bad. Sorry!

You are now RUBY ROSE, the one and only. And you’re going to find your sister.

**> Ruby! Assess the situation; have you left yet? How far are you from the village? Keep it up, I’ve got a feeling you’re reeaally close to Yang.**

You’ve left a couple hours ago, you think. You're pretty far away from the village, you’re sure. None of you have stopped walking or even slowed down since you’ve left. Your feet hurt a bit, and the top of your head itch, but in all sincerity you don’t give a penny about it. What matters is Yang, and only Y-

_“Hé——-ho!!!!!”_

You almost jump at the call and quickly draw out your scythe, turning to face the direction of the call-

Oh.

OH.

There are people.

LIVING people.

Running in your direction and waving their arms.

You feel like it’s Christmas already.


	51. 048

**>  Okay, are their faces happy that they see you, or panicking that something dangerous is on their tail? Waving arms can mean totally different things. If they look happy, wave back and wait for them to catch up to you. If panicking, get ready to run.**

They’re too far to be sure, but what you see look rather happy. Or, more exactly, one person looks so happy they could die, another completely stoned, and the last one got a hand on their mouth. In all cases, there isn’t any visible threats behind them by the time they catch up with you, so you suppose it’s fine.

**>  greet the people, they appear to be friendly. Is yang with them? Yang? YANG?!**

It’s kind of messy, because everyone is talking at the same time in their own  language, Zwei runs in circles happily and you hear something drop on the ground loudly, but you greet them. No Yang though. Only a blond noodle, a scarred redhead and a jaded dude.Too bad.

**>  Quick! Hit on the first person you see!**

You’re about to, but two things prevent you to do so.

One, you have no idea how to. You’ve never been interested by that kind of things before. You don’t even know why you want to do it.

Two, something fast and squeaky and pink suddenly jumps to hug the dark-haired boy, who hugs back with a painful wince. An incredibly fast and enthusiastic babble in… something, quickly follow, until the boy finally stops your friend with a simple word and her ramble end with a giggle.

There isn’t anyone, from your group or the other’s, who doesn’t look astonished. Except if you count Zwei, of course. He just looks excited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tfw you find your internet friend in the middle of an alternate universe


	52. 049

**> Share a confused glance with Weiss. Nora seems happy, though, so try to be happy for her too. If she found her friend, then you’ll DEFINITELY be able to find Yang! Then you’ll be able to introduce Yang to Weiss (and Nora and Zwei) and gush to her about how you’re totally not crushing on her at all. At all.**

You share a confused glance with Weiss. Then with the blondie. Then with the redhead-holy shit that’s a hell of a big scar.

**> Give Zwei a quick pet and then assess the state of the these new people. Are they hurt? Do they have weapons or food?**

While Zwei makes happy noises, you start observing more attentively these new people.

They don’t seem to have much food, or anything else, actually, judging by what you see poking out of their pockets. Only the redhead have a visible weapon.

On the hurt side… Well, they definitively don’t look _okay_ , but it doesn’t look so bad. They can still move, after all. You briefly wonder how fucked up your standards have become before moving on.

**> Ask Nora what’s going on; does she know the boy or anyone else in the group?**

Nora grins widely, finally letting the guy go, but still holding his hand.

_“Internet friend!”_

_“Vanished, like, two days before I. Worried, yes, a lot! But together now! Not together-together. But together!”_

Oooooooooooooh.

**>  Language check! Besides Nora and the boy, see if anyone else speaks a common language.**

**> Start getting acquainted. Level up your language skills by talking to them. Maybe you’ll start to understand each other slowly like the cute rabbit said.**

Unfortunately, it’s quickly obvious that Nora and her friend are the onyl one understanding each others. You get to know the names of these new people though, it’s already a start.

**>  Introduce yourselves. Know that we, the crazy voices in your head, know these people, and they are safe. Find a common language. Idly wonder if you should introduce them to Nian Goat, but decide against it, because you should find Yang first. Anyway, continue NORTH (And beware Mr. Eaten, do not search the name), try to convince them to come with. If you find Yang, head back south with everyone. Do not stare at the redhead’s half Glasglow Grin. See about Nora. Ask stoner boy for weed.**

They don’t seem to mind following you. Pyrrha gladly gives you her place as a leader, and you continue going North.

Nothing happens for a long while as you get acquainted with each others, but when the sun is about to set, you see something unusual in the distance.

…No but seriously what is that. It’s tall, and dark, but doesn’t look like a monster.

_What should you do?_


	53. 050

**> Have your injured hang back at a safe distance. Approach the figure cautiously. If it looks hostile, be ready to run and take your friends with you.**

You tell Nora, who tells Ren, who tells Jaune and Pyrrha, about that plan. Weiss argues a bit about it, but since none of you is able to be completely understood by the other, you decide to just do what you want. She insists on coming with you, though.

Pyrrha and Ren stay behind, along with Nora to protect them. Also because she refuses firmly to leave Ren. You hence go forward with Weiss, Zwei and Jaune.

**> Stealth time. Have the others hang back and hide, and slowly approach the shape, keeping close to the ground. If it’s a girl with cat ears and black hair, then approach slowly because she’s batshit insane, but she also probably knows where Yang is. By the by, no hitting on her if this is the case, you need to get Weiss to love you first. Anyway, if it ISN’T a girl with black hair, hang back and await further orders from the voices in your head.**

You approach slowly, stomach low and the ground. The closer you get, the weirder the shape is to you. It’s just so.. So… Out of place?

You finally get close enough to touch it. It’s big, really big, easily twice your size, but it’s getting too dark to see clearly what it is.

Weiss probably guessed what you were about to do, because she grabs your arm and looks at you like she’s about to scold you. Jaune, next to her, looks confused.

Too bad. You have another arm.

You touch the thing, and for a second, everyone hold their breath.

…

…

…

It’s a pile of rocks.

With a lot. Of rocks. But still rocks.

This doesn’t make it any less unusual. At all.

**> Yell “ARE YOU ALIVE OR AN OBJECT?” At the thing in the distance. Watch for a reaction.**

You clasps both hands on your mouth, but it’s too late. Jaune looks panicked. Weiss’s face is the very definition of disbelief. Oh god, why did you do that?

**> Does it look like a hot cat-girl? Actually, instead of trying to guess what it looks like, just approach it and determine what it looks like.**

A hot cat-girl?

You mean, like the person who just tackled you and have both hands around your throat?

_You need to act, quickly, before someone get hurts. Whether it’ll be you or the stranger. What do you do?_


	54. 051

**>  Smile gently at her and softly caress her cheek with one of your hands to show that you do not want to hurt her. For some reason, people in movies never do this and thrash around making them seem more dangerous and giving their holder less reason to stop choking them.**

You would, as stupid as this idea is, but your hands are too busy gripping the stranger’s wrists to make sure their hands doesn’t tighten around your neck. They aren’t quite choking you yet, but they’re still making breathing harder than it should.

You are _not_ moving your hands from where they are for now.

**>  Don’t panic. Or, panic a little (there are hands around your throat after all, the sane thing would be to panic). Yell at Weiss and the others to get back. Try to push your assailant off. Try to declare your intent of friendship.**

_“GET BACK!”_

Your scream startles everyone around, including the stranger. Surprisingly, Weiss obeys. For a couple seconds, nothing moves, safe for the unnoticeable to anyone but you lightening of the grip around your throat and something twitching on the stranger’s head and oh pastas on your shoes are those cat ears.

**>  Okay, first, the rocks are a marker. A common tactic for survivalists in real life is a pile of rocks to indicate to other sentient people where they are. If your throat wasn’t being crushed, you would probably find an indication of where people were. Anyway, if the girl is tall, with black hair, and cat ears on her head, choke out the name “Yang”. Trust me, it’ll work. Work quickly, though, before Weiss skewers her on the rapier. If it’s not a girl with cat ears, let Weiss skewer her.**

Markers. Okay. That makes sense. You don’t know where is this deduction from, but you’re sure it’s the right one.

Same thing for your sister’s name. Sounds kind of stupid to say to you, but the word leave your mouth by itself, resonating clearly in the air.

The stranger freezes.

_“…Ruby?”_

They let you go and take a few steps back, ears flickering.

…What?


	55. 052

**>  Tell her that Yang is your sister. Give her the most lost and hopeful look your eyes can hold.**

**>  Breath deep. Savor the air. It may never taste this good again (Until you get out of this Hell Hole, at least). Confirm that you ARE in fact, Ruby. Trust us on this, it’ll all go faster. Then take a quick look around. Wonder why the Hell she tried to kill you, that’s new. She wasn’t THAT far gone last time we che-… Have Weiss draw her rapier. Ask where Yang is. Be calm. She might be dead, and this girl in front of you may have killed her. Or she knows where she is, at least.**

Weiss rushes toward you barely a second after the stranger backed away. You take a big breath, savouring the fresh air on your tongue. You’d have never thought it’d taste so good one day.

_“Weiss. Rapiers. Now.”_

She drawq it without hesitations. Good. In front of you, the person shifts uncomfortable, then slowly raise both hands.

_“Think were a monster.”_

… Sadly, that explains a lot. You’re still not trusting that person thought.

Damn your throat hurts.

_“I… I’m Ruby. Yang’s sister.”_

_“Where is she?”_

The stranger blinks and frowns, like they had troubles understanding. You’re about to repeat what you said when suddenly their face lighten and they speak again.

_“Sleep. Hurted.”_

They then point at a nearby tree, where, with the declining light, if you really pay attention you can see something sausage-shaped sleeping on one of the branches.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you spent months in a place full of monsters with little to no human contacts you would probably attack anything vaguely threatening on sight too


	56. 053

**>  Remember the last time you had sausage for breakfast. Then shake the memory out of your head, this isn’t the time to for memories. Slowly, carefully go towards the tree. Be ready to run or kill (God, are you that far gone already? Ready to KILL at a moment’s notice?) as needed. Then, look up at the shape. If it’s a corpse, don’t scream or shout or make any other loud noise, just signal to Weiss that you may need to kill (You’ve been here too long) the girl. If it’s Yang, say her name.**

You don’t remember clearly, but you don’t have any troubles remembering their tastes in the other hand. So sweet, and hot, and just so _good_ compared to what you eat now-

..You shouldn’t go that road.

Carefully, you approach the tree and climb, ready to kill or run if needed

-You refuse to think too much about how fucked up you’ve became. Priorities, remember?-

…..

Yeah, it’s a person. Sleeping, judging by their breath. Hurt, judging by the bandage around their head.

Your sister, judging by the mane.

Your own breath get stuck in your throat. You feel small tears forming on the corner of your eyes. Softly, you run a hand on their back and call out your sister’s name.

_“Yang?”_

Bright violet eyes open and strong calloused hands seize your wrists. Time seems to stop for a second, as you both stare into each others eyes, the moment broken by a simple voice, so familiar and yet that you haven’t heard in so long.

_“Ruby?”_

She doesn’t wait for your answer to pull you forward and crush you in her strong embrace. For once, as you hug her back just as tightly, you can’t bring yourself to care.

Life is good.

**> Ask Weiss to put away her rapier. Tell her Yang’s alive, bounce around with happiness, hug Weiss, disguise it by making it a group hug. Then hold Weiss’ hand. Once Yang’s awake, hug her too, if she’s up for it.**

You grab your sister’s hand and rushes down, leaving a trail of roses petals behind you. When you reaches the first part of your team, you jump on Weiss and squeaks, hugging her. -And incidently making her drop her weapon-

_“It’s her! It’s her it’s her it’s my sister!”_

Weiss seems confused, Yang too, Jaune apparently left and the cat-eared stranger is staring at… well, absolutely nothing, apparently.

**>  Hug the kitty in thanks since it seems that she helped Yang when Yang got hurt.**

You let Weiss go, slipping your hand into her’s, and profusely thanks the cat for taking care of your sister. Yang chuckles behind you. the stranger just nods, not really looking like they care.

You’re finally all reunited. And it feels great.


	57. 054

**>  How bad are Yang’s injuries? Can she move, can she travel? How’d she get hurt?**

It looks like she got a blow to her ear, but it’s hard to tell how bad this is because of the dark. She tells you it’s nothing to worry about, just some monster that got lucky. You don’t entirely believe her, considering her habit to hide her injuries even back when the only furry things roaming outside were cats and dogs and the worst wounds she had were bruises from boxing, but since you can’t really do anything about it you decide to let go.

**>  Where’d Jaune go? Head back to where Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren are to regroup. Once all eight of you are together, check to see if anyone can communicate; you and Yang speak english, Nora and Ren speak… something, and maybe the cat person and Jaune can both speak french?**

**>  Share information and introductions with everyone, try to get a grasp of what languages you can kinda-sorta understand since progressing on will be troublesome if you can’t make out what you’re saying.**

Weiss informs you that Jaune went gathering the rest of the team. She also informs you that he was probably just looking for an excuse to get away from the crazy cat.

Guess you should start the presentations without them.

Weiss introduce herself, then the stranger -Blake- you all exchange the basic information -how have they been here, how long since Blake’s ears appeared, the fact that Blake is, indeed, a bit crazy, but not a bad person, ect. Funnily enough, Yang avoids completely the subject of what happened in the real world during your absence. Weird.-

Then the rest of the team join you all and more introductions ensue. To everyone’s surprise, it turns out that Blake and Jaune share the same language.Too bad none of those two are actually able to speak proper English.

**> Regroup and keep heading north.**

You didn’t think you’d hear one day so many people from so many different places and in so many different languages disapprove an idea so loudly. Most of them tells you that travelling in the middle of the night is an idea nearly as bad as trying to invade Russia in the middle of winter. Others, slightly more tactful, say that you’re all tired and you should rest a bit before doing anything big.

Eventually, Yang informs all of you that anyway there’s some kind of big barrier not so far away preventing from going further north, so unless anyone have ideas about how to go past it it’s no use to go this way. 

….Donger.

With a sight, you suggest to sleep in a tree and take turns staying awake. You’ll probably have an idea about what to do during the night.

_What should you do in the morning?_


	58. 055

**>  Wake up first before anyone else and make a mental list of their relative hotness. You know… just in case.**

You’re the first one to wake up, surprisingly, and after quickly stretching, you process to make a mental list of your teammates relative hotness.

Thankfully, none of them seems to have any fever, so the hotness is at a normal level for everyone. You do wake up Blake and Weiss checking their forehead, though.

The morning is pretty usual, even with extra partners. Yang and Blake stare wide-eyed at your provisions for a solid ten seconds before wolfing down, but that’s the only noticeable event that happened.

**> It’s unlikely you can break through the barrier. Try going to the east or west first, then head north. If all else fails, pray to Nian for help.**

**> Go towards the barrier and try to break through it with the power of love!**

After quickly talking -well, miming, mostly-with your team, you decide to head north, and go east if you don’t find any way through the barrier, which will surely be the case.

It doesn’t take long to reach what Yang described to you.

…

Wow.

It does, indeed, looks like a barrier. More precisely, it looks like someone grabbed a bunch of huge rocks and placed them next to each others, forming some king of giant wall. It’s pretty impressive.

You can’t see any doors or breach, sadly. You suppose you’ll have to go east after all. Though, you briefly wonder if he power of love could help you getting through it.

It’s a stupid thought, but you realize it only after applying your hand on the nearest stone.

Said stone immediately beginning to glow blue at your touch.

Everybody, including you, take a step back. Blake growls. Nora steps in front of Ren. Weiss draws out her rapier.

On the rock, letters are appearing.

_Salutation, player!_

_You seemed to have survived long enough to unlock_

_the first two levels of the game._

_Congratulation!_

_Here is the door to the inner game._

_Dangers awaits behind the barrier_

_But the exit is also this way._

_Please apply your hand on a choice to select it._

**_ > See the game’s rules_ **

**_ > Start the game_ **

**_ > Leave_ **


	59. 056

**> Wonder briefly if everyone else can understand what the rock is saying because you can read it, but you don’t know other languages so how is everyone faring? Regardless, let’s get the rules.**

There’s a moment of silence in which everyone -including you- process what just happened, but as soon as you are out of your astonishment you ask the others if they can understand the text.

Their answer is yes. There is no exceptions.

**> This is the “game” Velvet mentioned before! Even though she explained it, check the game’s rules.**

Hesitantly, you take a step forward and graze the word “rules” with the tip of your fingers. The letters immediately starts moving and turning into other letters.

_The rules are simple_

_You must enter with a team_

_You can’t play alone_

_Once you’ve started the game_

_You can quit by going back to this door._

_Once you’re inside,_

_There will be rocks similar to this one_

_Though smaller, obviously._

_Touch them to_

**_d r a w  a  c a r d_ **

_The card will give you a hint about what will happen to you next_

_If you don’t draw a card, you can’t keep going_

_The further you go, the harder the challenges_

_You win if you reach the top of the mountain_

_If one manage to go this far, the whole team win_

_You lose if you’re the last one in your team_

**_And your Remnants will belong to the game._ **

Then, the first text appears again.

….

Well wasn't that cryptic as hell. And dark.

**>  Enter the game. Tell your companions that they can go with you and hopefully escape, or they can retrace your route to live with Velvet and the others. It’s their choice, but hopefully all of team RWBYJNPR will join you.**

You click ‘start’. The next text is way shorter.

                  _All the members of the entering team_

_Please apply your hands on the stone_

_When it’s done_

_The team leader must apply their hand a second time._

You turn to face the rest of the group. Some seems hesitant, other determined.

You decide to talk, joining gestures with your speech.

_“Guys… I’ll be honest. And brief. Because I’m not really good with big speeches, to be frank.”_

_“We don’t know what’s behind this wall. For all we know, we could die barely a minute after entering. That’s a risk I’m willing to take. I don’t know about you.”_

_“Sooo…. If you guys want to leave and go back at Velvet’s village, go ahead. I won’t stop you. This is probably your last chance. Once we’re in, I’m not backing away. So… yeah. It’s time.”_

Yang gives you a thumb up. Weiss rolls her eyes. Pyrrha smiles with the best of her ability. Jaune shifts uncomfortably. Blake’s ears twitch. Nora and Ren discuss loudly.

The first one to step forward is, unsurprisingly, your sister. The second one, sneaking behind her as she ruffles your hair affectionately, is Blake. The third, telling you you’re an idiot, is Weiss. Fourth is Pyrrha, fifth Jaune. seventh and eighth are respectively Ren and Nora. Ninth is, to everyone’s surprise, Zwei. 

You’re the team leader. You confirm the team.

There’s a loud noise, like a growl, and the stones slide out of the way, allowing you to go further.

In front of you there is some big empty grass field, with a stone similar to those the wall was made of and a number engraved on it -1-.

Welp. Time to move.


	60. 057

**>  Draw the card!**

You check if everyone is here and you put your hand on the rock. As another text appears, blue stairs materialize out of nowhere not so far from your group, leading directly to the side of the mountain. Goodbye, flat fields. We’ll miss you.

_At night they fly_

_You better run_

_Those winged things_

_Aren’t much fun_

God you’re starting to really hate those cryptic messages-

The first caw sounds far away and harmless. The dozen others that follow threatening and undoubtedly getting closer.

Blake is the first one to react, drawing out their weapon and rushing toward the stairs screaming

_“OISEAUX!!!!”_

You see the numerous tiny black spots in the sky flying toward you, and you decide to follow their example.

_“Run! Run!”_

Reaching the stairs is easy for you and your power, but while Blake is almost as fast as you and runs past you without looking back when you pause, it’s quickly obvious that the others are much slower than you two. Namely, Ren, probably slowed down by his wounds, whom the flying things are getting dangerously close to. 

Alright. Change of plan.

You let out a growl and rush back to your team, grabbing Weiss’s arm on the way and pulling her to ren’s level.

_“Do your thing, girl! Do the glyphy thing!”_

You briefly mime the weird thing she does with her fingers when she summon a glyph, and by her look you know she got it. You don’t wait for her to pull the taller boy out of harm’s way to rush back to the stairs. Your lungs are starting to burn from breathing so heavily, but you couldn’t care less at the moment.

Pyrrha and Yang quickly run past you at the same time that the flying things are close enough for you to see -They look like birds version of the bonethingies, for those who wondered.- Then Weiss joins you, seemingly exhausted, along with Ren who immediately slide an arm around her and pulls her upstairs. Jaune and Nora are the lasts before you ascend the stairs yourself, said stairs strangely vanishing as soon as you reach the last step.

You pause a second, preparing yourself to use your power again, your second set of ears twitching, but surprisingly the birdies seems perfctely unable to fly that high. They flap their wings, screech insufferably, but that’s all.

You suppose you succeeded the first challenge.

Niiiice.


	61. 057

**>  Draw the card!**

You check if everyone is here and you put your hand on the rock. As another text appears, blue stairs materialize out of nowhere not so far from your group, leading directly to the side of the mountain. Goodbye, flat fields. We’ll miss you.

_At night they fly_

_You better run_

_Those winged things_

_Aren’t much fun_

God you’re starting to really hate those cryptic messages-

The first caw sounds far away and harmless. The dozen others that follow threatening and undoubtedly getting closer.

Blake is the first one to react, drawing out their weapon and rushing toward the stairs screaming

_“OISEAUX!!!!”_

You see the numerous tiny black spots in the sky flying toward you, and you decide to follow their example.

_“Run! Run!”_

Reaching the stairs is easy for you and your power, but while Blake is almost as fast as you and runs past you without looking back when you pause, it’s quickly obvious that the others are much slower than you two. Namely, Ren, probably slowed down by his wounds, whom the flying things are getting dangerously close to. 

Alright. Change of plan.

You let out a growl and rush back to your team, grabbing Weiss’s arm on the way and pulling her to ren’s level.

_“Do your thing, girl! Do the glyphy thing!”_

You briefly mime the weird thing she does with her fingers when she summon a glyph, and by her look you know she got it. You don’t wait for her to pull the taller boy out of harm’s way to rush back to the stairs. Your lungs are starting to burn from breathing so heavily, but you couldn’t care less at the moment.

Pyrrha and Yang quickly run past you at the same time that the flying things are close enough for you to see -They look like birds version of the bonethingies, for those who wondered.- Then Weiss joins you, seemingly exhausted, along with Ren who immediately slide an arm around her and pulls her upstairs. Jaune and Nora are the lasts before you ascend the stairs yourself, said stairs strangely vanishing as soon as you reach the last step.

You pause a second, preparing yourself to use your power again, your second set of ears twitching, but surprisingly the birdies seems perfctely unable to fly that high. They flap their wings, screech insufferably, but that’s all.

You suppose you succeeded the first challenge.

Niiiice.


	62. 059

**> Be elated at winning unharmed! Hug everyone! ESPECIALLY Weiss! In fact, maybe just hug Weiss. Then, look behind you, at the mountain that you are now apparently at the top of. See what’s next, if you can find the next rule stone, a good place to set up camp, that kind of thing. Wonder if you should have left some message at the bottom saying “Birds” for the next players. Then, realize that you have a second set of ears. Feel your head. Then, have Weiss feel your head. React appropriately.**

For a game ‘more dangerous than anything you could have seen before’ you did rather well, didn’t you? Take this, stupid game! You won’t hurt us so easily!

You celebrate by hugging your teammates. All of them. Except Jaune. He makes a weird face when you step toward him. Actually, they all make weird faces to some extent, but his is weird enough to keep you away. Too bad. No hugs for him.

You let your gaze wonder around. You certainly aren’t on _top_ of the mountain, but you’re on it. It’s a first step, right?

It’s a bit sloppy, but you could surely camp here if you needed to. Though, the day is still young, so you’d rather keep going a bit before pausing.

You also notice the next rule stone, not so far away. Good.

You briefly wonder if you should have left a message below, but you quickly shake that thought away. You didn’t have the time, you shouldn’t feel bad about it. The next players will have to improvise just like you did.

….It’s weird. Why is everyone staring at you? Do you have something on your face?

**0057: Get a slight twinge in your chest that Ren is still holding onto Weiss and lament that you weren’t the one she was leaning on. Scratch your head at where this thought came from and realize you have a new set of ears. Wiggle them cutely at Weiss.**

You feel a hint of jealousy toward Ren as Weiss slowly get out grip. Then you mostly feel puzzled. That certainly was a first. Since when do you get jealous for such shallow things? It makes you scratch your head in confusion.

Or more exactly, it would if you hadn’t met something furry and pointed and yours on the way. Something you’re sure you didn’t have barely an hour ago.

Oh.

_Oh._

Now you know why everyone is staring.

**>  Touch your second set of ears and describe what it looks like and how it feels.**

You wiggle the things experimentally before running a finger on them. They feel, as said before, furry. The soft kind of furry. They have a triangular shape with a pointed tip. They are rather sensitive, too. It’s… Weird. It’s like you just won a new set of limbs, -which is, thinking about it, technically the case- and you don’t have a single idea about how to deal with that.

…You think you need to lay down.

You sit down and Yang breaks the awkward silence by suggesting a lunch break. You’re not hungry, but she tells you you should at least drink some water. It’d help. She also add jokingly that she thinks your new ears are cute, and informs you that they look a bit like Zwei’s. You know it’s her own way to deal with the situation, so you don’t comment and simply nod.

As everybody sit down in a circle and some people already start to pull out the food out of their inventories, Blake sneaks next to you and slid their tail around you -wait, since when do they have a tail?

 _“It ok. Normal. Happens, sometimes. Like this.”_ they wiggle their apparently newly-acquired tail for emphasis. _“No worry. Get use to that fastly. Believe me.”_

This… Actually makes you feel better. And also a bit impressed by Blake’s calm. You wonder just what did they go through before you met them to become like that. You also briefly wonder if anyone else got any animal traits that you haven’t noticed.

The next half hour is rather loud, Nora and Yang babbling about whatever came in their minds that was unrelated to your furry problem -or at least you assume that’s what Nora’s doing, since she doesn’t bother even trying to translate what she’s saying right now- Blake moving their tail around and staring at it with a curious look, and Zwei collapsing on your laps in hope to get scratched. For a moment, it almost looks like a normal group of friend eating together and having fun.

But of course, fun have to end at one point. You stretch, thanks Blake, pull Zwei out of your laps and get up. Time to go again.

_Do you have anything to say or do before drawing the next card? Or do you draw it directly?_


	63. 060

**> Check to see who’s injured; those people should be kept in the center of the group so that they may be protected and helped along.**

Ren is the only one injured enough to be disadvantaged because of it. He tells Nora who tells you that he should be better in a day or two though.

That’s nice to hear.

**>  Status report on everyone and inventories. See if they have any new features like your cute ears. Also, test out your ears to see how more effectively they are than your human ones. Toss a rock over the edge and see how far you can hear or listen for any slight noise on winds.**

INVENTORY CHECK

Ruby:

  * Nice scythe
  * Food
  * Bandages
  * Oz_in diary
  * Blanket



Weiss:

  * Rapier
  * Lots of variously coloured tiny rocks
  * Food
  * Water



Blake:

  * Knife
  * Catnip



Yang:

  * Bandages



Jaune:

  * Water
  * Socks
  * Stick



Pyrrha:

  * Broken spear
  * Food



Nora:

  * Hammer
  * Music box
  * Spanner
  * Screwdriver
  * Pajamas



Ren:

  * Dried noodles
  * Needles



You then ask if any of them have weird animal stuff too.

Jaune points at the top of his head and tells you it itches. (or you assume that’s what he meant, anyway.) Pyrrha is the one who ruffles his hair, revealing two tiny horns growing under it. Like goats’ horns. You wonder if he’ll start sounding like one at some point. He doesn’t find it funny.

Ren tells you he got something too, though since a couple days. Nobody asked so he never brought the subject up. You ask what it is. He pulls out his tongue.

A very long tongue.

A very yellow tongue.

A very forked tongue.

Coming from a very large mouth.

Large and _teethy_.

Holy _shit_.

Even Yang is impressed.

_“You two are the embodiment of Little Red Riding Hood’s wolf!”_

You both glare at the blonde. Thank you, Yang. That was a necessary comment.

She then starts a heavy argument with Nora and an unwilling Weiss about what kind of animal Ren is -that came out wrong didn’t it- Ren informs you that he’ll take a quick nap if you don’t want to move anytime soon, Jaune and Pyrrha seems to be bonding over Zwei and Blake is still testing things with their tail.

You suppose now would be a good time to test out your new ears. Who knows when you’ll have an occasion like that again.

You toss a rock over the edge and close your eyes, listening. You hear the wind shifting for a surprisingly long time. You think your hearing definitively improved.

Good.

**> Take a bit more time to hang out before drawing the next card. Strike up a conversation with Weiss- see how she’s doing. It seemed like summoning that glyph took a lot out of her and you want to make sure she’s at 100% before you go. Because. You’re friends. That’s what. That’s what friends do. Also check on all of your injured.**

You take the next hour to rest a bit and bond with the rest of the team. Yang and Blake tell you stories from before you’d met them, Jaune is a surprisingly nice and funny person, you braid Pyrrha’s hair, play with Zwei and Nora, talk to Weiss about favourite foods. It’s pretty relaxing, compared to what you’ve lived lately. You like it.

But hey. You can’t stay here forever, if only because you don’t have enough food. You quickly make sure that everyone is ready and in their best shape before walking to the rule stone.

**> draw a card**

You touch the stone. Like earlier, blue stairs appears further, and a text follow.

_His fangs are sharp_

_He loves your taste_

_Your party better_

_Move poste-haste_

A loud growl resonate in the air, making your hair rise. Whatever you choose to do, you should do it quickly!


	64. 061

**>  RUUUUUUUN.**

**>  Different monster, same principle, I think. Run up the staircases, not as fast as you can because you might need to help someone. Wait, Nora’s strong, right? Keep in mind everyone doing strength checks if - *when* you get to the next campsite. Shout encouraging things to your group, things like, “Run faster or we die!” or, “You’re looking really good Weiss!” Try to catch a glimpse of what’s chasing you. If anyone trips, quickly pick them up and run with them to the top. All shall be well.**

_“Okay guys runrunrun!”_

Just like with the previous card, everybody moves quickly. Ren seems to be faster after having properly rested, allowing Weiss to go forward without being slowed down. Yang trips at some point and you feel your heart miss a beat in fear, but Blake promptly pulls her back on her feet and they’re back to running as if nothing happened.

You, you stay behind and wait for everyone to be climbing the stairs before sprinting to join them. Partially because if anyone needs help, you’ll be the fastest to intervene. Also partially because you want to see what’s after you. Know your enemy to better fight him and junk.

You’re a bit… disappointed, actually. It’s just another bonethingy. Sure, a very big and very spikey one, but still a bearthingy. Nothing out of your league.

As you reach the top of the stairs which are already starting to fade away, you wonder is this game is really as hard as it sounded like.

Oh, well. Anyway, you went through the second card, and without a scratch even.

What now?


	65. 062

**> Let yourselves have a little bit more downtime. Make sure Yang is okay. Then go talk to Weiss some more.**

You do. While most of the team is against wasting too much time doing nothing, they all agree that they could use a short break. You make sure that Yang is okay, then proceed to the usual team bonding. It’s important to know each others. Also it prevents you from having a mental breakdown and it’s rather nice. You don’t have time for those. You have a team to keep alive.

**> Set up camp. Get ready to do strength tests, to see how much each person can weigh. Tell Jaune that he is the prophet of Nian, our Holy Goat God. Get Nora, Yang, and Blake in on it. Have everyone check themselves for new animal bits.Help Weiss check herself for animal bits. No going under the clothes, though, that’s a private matter. Then prepare. You’re not out of the woods yet. Disregard the above, save for later, GET READY TO KEEP RUNNING. That was TOO easy. And take that as a sign.**

You think you’ll have to forget all the camp part, but the rest sounds like a good idea.

You get Nora, Yang and Blake to do various strength tests -well, technically, just one, but with different weighs- Unsurprisingly, your sister is the strongest. Hey, she _is_ a boxer after all. Nora is second and Blake third. They tell you they’re more of a runner than a fighter. You suppose that makes sense.

You also quickly check for more animal bits, making everyone helping each others out, in case someone would miss something. You help Weiss, Blake Yang, Jaune Pyrrha and Ren Nora. Except Jaune’s horns who apparently grew longer and are now clearly visible instead of weirdly hidden by his hair, nobody else had changed. You aren’t sure if it is a good thing or not. You decide it isn’t important.

Oh, look at the time. It’s time to get going.

**> Catch your breath, check to make sure that no one’s injured, and draw the next card.**

You tell everyone to get ready to run -you’ve learned your lesson- and draw the card, quickly spotting the appearing stairs and reading the text.

_Prepare yourself_

_For a wild ride_

_Unfortunately_

_Some mountains slide_

Wait n-

The ground starts to shake under your feet, and you yell at the others to run. If it’s what you think it is, you have even less time than befor-

It is.

Blake and Weiss have already reached the stairs when a large bit of the mountain comes off, dragging along a yelping Pyrrha. Fortunately, Ren was close enough to grab her arm and stop her from falling, but it’s quickly obvious that he isn’t strong enough to pull her back on solid ground. Another chunk of the mountain breaks away behind you, the earth still quaking violently.

_What are your orders and actions?_


	66. 063

**> Shout at Nora, Yang, Zwei, and Jaune to get to the stairs if they aren’t already. Focus Ruby, quiet your mind and become faster than any mortal man. You can do this. Zip over there and save Ren and Pyrrha.**

**> You and Yang need to grab Ren and pull him to safety. Be quick!**

**> Get the strong people to grab Pyrrha!**

_“Yang! With me! The others! Keep running!”_

Your sister quickly change direction to head toward Ren. You zip next to her and you you pull Ren on safe ground while the blonde grabs Pyrrha and shoves her on her shoulder. The ground doesn’t stop shaking until you’re all upstairs, and more than once you feel your blood go cold in your veins at the feel of earth sliding under your feet or at the landing of a large rock next to you.

Thankfully, you all make it alive. You’re out of breath, shaking, but alive.

Wow…That was a close one.

Nora throws Ren and Pyrrha in a tight hug, mumbling something unintelligible under her breath. Weiss is sitting on the floor, hugging Zwei tightly. More generally, everyone seems to be a bit shaken up by that last event. You feel them.

**> After all this is through wiggle your eyebrows at blake.**

You wiggle your brows at Blake, who shoots a confused glance at you. Oh well. You’re tired. everybody does weird things when tired. Aren’t you right?

You think it’s enough for today.

_What do you do before going to sleep, and what will you do once awake?_


	67. 064

**> Just give up, lay down and give up. Only start caring again if one of your team members gives you an inspirational speech. Bonus points if they tear up and sound like an anime.**

You raise your eyes to see just how much is left to climb. Then your gaze wander around your team, and the obvious state of exhaustion they are in.

….

You are not going to make it. You’re barely at the beginning, and you’re already all worn out. There just isn’t any way for all of you to reach the top.

Maybe you should just give up right here. Go back to the entrance and join Velvet and the others. Was it how they felt when they tried the game? How they decided it wasn’t worth it and went to create their village?

You understand better now why Velvet refused to come with you. She knew it was a lost cause.

A hard smack on your head bring you out of your internal angsty monologue.

_“Hey sis, why the xiao long face? We made it out alive! Aren’t you happy?”_

You let out a quiet sight, but a faint smile makes it way to your lips. Trust Yang to find a way to make everything look better and turn your life to gold when you’re at your worst.

_“It’s nothing, Yang. I’m just… Starting to wonder if it was really a good idea. I’m not sure if we’re gonna make it out ali-”_

_“This is bullshit.”_

Your ears perk up. Wow. you didn’t expect such a categorical answer that quickly.

_“Ruby. Look around you. Yes, we’re all tired. Yes, some of us got hurt. But we took three different cards in a single day, remember? Of course it’d happen. We’ll just have to take it easy tomorrow.”_

_“We’re going to make it, sis. You can’t allow yourself to have any doubts concerning this. You’re our leader. If you doubt, we’ll all doubt. And if we doubt, we’ll fail for sure. Worrying about things we can’t do anything about before they happen is useless and counterproductive. So have faith in us, okay? None of us is planning to die anytime soon. Nor letting anyone dying if we can help it. We can’t fail if we’re united.”_

That… was deep.

And exactly what you needed.

_“Thank you, sis. I won’t do that again.”_

_“You better, Rubble. I trust you about this.”_

She ruffles your hair, laughing, before leaving to grab some of Pyrrha’s food. Bless your sister. She’s really the best.

**> Check if there are any injuries that need tending thirst that needs quenching or hunger that needs to be remedied. Maybe pair everyone up so that each injured/weak person can have someone stronger looking out for them. Think of different scenarios that could be coming up and plan your strategies for them.**

You quickly check the physical state of your teammates. Save for Nora, who apparently got hit by a falling rock judging by her bleeding shoulder but was too worried about the tall noodles to notice, nobody got badly hurt. While Ren bandage the smaller girl, you realize that making pairs could be a good idea. You’ll think about who should be with who during the night, so you’ll have time to think.

You also briefly think about the different scenarios possible. From what you’ve seen, there are two kind of cards: the monsters and the disasters. Both can be avoided by running. You think you should get the fast people to stay behind in case anyone need help quickly, and the strong in the middle to react faster to any attacks from any sides. Yeah. It should be able to work for most scenarios.

**> Come on, Leader Lady, it’s time for an inspirational speech before bed that only half the group can really understand!**

As everyone settle in circle to eat, you clear your throat and and start talking. You don’t know how, but words come naturally to you. As you speak, you can see Nora translating to Ren, who translate to Pyrrha -or so you assume. On the other side of the circle, your sister translate to Blake. Guess more than a half will understand it.

_“Okay, guys. I won’t lie. This was rough. Some of us almost lost their lives. But we all made it. And you know why? Because we’re united. Because we trust each others. And as long as this bond exists between us, I can guarantee you that we’re going to make it. Together, we’re strong. We will beat this game. And we will all come back in our world.”_

There’s a moment of silence and you feel a bit uncomfortable, with all those ayes staring at you. But slowly, cheering starts to be heard and you know you did good. Yang gives you a thumb up. Nora high-five you.

Yeah. You did good.

**> Survey the area. Find the rock with the rules, and then stay away from it. Then, set up a nice little camp, consisting of edible rocks and a nice little area where most of you can huddle together for warmth (Try to snuggle up to Weiss). Then set up a two person night watch, two people up at any time to keep an eye out for trouble. Trust me when I say it’s probably going to be necessary. You and Weiss can be on watch together. Sleep well, sweet dreams, or better yet, prophetic ones. Luck.**

As soon as you’re done restoring yourself, you let the others behind and explore a bit the area. It’s funny, how bright the night seems. You wonder if your eyes changed with your ears.

You find the rule stone quickly, but you don’t touch it, obviously. You also find a couple other odd rocks next to it. They have cutting marks on them, as if someone tried to engrave something on them, but whatever it is it isn’t understandable for you. Too bad.

You go back to the others and listen to Nora finish her story -something about boots and pancakes- before suggesting night watch. You also propose to be the first one. Weiss also volunteers. After you it’ll be Blake and Yang, then Ren and Nora, and lastly Pyrrha and Jaune.

Everyone say the usual goodnight, your team turns into a big cuddling mess, and you you sit on the ground with Weiss, ears flickering and eyes wide open.

**> It could get cold at night. You may need to huddle together for warmth. Suggest this to the others, especially Weiss. Only Weiss. Cuddle with Weiss,you know you want to.**

It _is_ cold tonight. Thankfully, you have your blanket. You agreed with the others that whoever was on watch would have it. Sadly, it isn’t really big and you have to get closer to Weiss in order to have you both warm.

You totally do not use this opportunity to snuggle. Nope. Not at all.

…Okay maybe a little but it isn’t like Weiss seems to care anyway. She just sights and bring a hand behind your ears to scratch you.

It feels good.

Life is good.

_What will you do tomorrow morning?_


	68. 065

**> Have a brief breakfast with the team. Try not to think about Weiss scratching your ears. And try not to think about her snuggling up to you. Focus on the task at hand and making sure everybody is ready to go. (Maybe think about her snuggling you a little.)**

**> Remember your dreams. Any prophetic ones? Hopefully, but, alas, we probably won’t be able to translate them. Remember, things are only going to get harder the further up the mountain you go, but you’re strong enough to face it. Greet Weiss, who you were currently cuddling with, and who was watching you sleep, with a smile and a cheery “Good morning!” Then, eat breakfast, and PLAN. Plan before you touch the next rock, and figure out general reactions to general situations with the group.**

Morning pass as usual. You wake up, untangle yourself from the cuddling nest Yang’s arms created, remove your own arms from around Weiss’s waist, greet everyone, and have breakfast.

Unfortunately, you don’t remember your dreams, so you can’t say if you had any prophetic ones. This is very unlikely, though. You don’t really believe in that kind of things.

You also fail at not thinking about Weiss’s fingers in your hair. To be fair, it felt damn good. You wonder if Blake feels the same when they’re scratched. You decide to immediately test that theory.

You ask them for permission first, of course. You’re not blind, you’ve noticed how twitchy and paranoid they were at times. You’d hate to make them feel threatened or uncomfortable for the sake of a stupid experience.

The result is rather impressive, though. They tense up a bit at first, and you almost retrieve your hand, but as soon as you start scratching, they melt under your touch and start purring.

…Whoa.

**> just continually check everyone for animal bits. And check yourself too. Blake grew a tail after they got ears so Ruby might too.**

Once you’re done taking care of yourselves, you proceed to the usual animaling checking. Nothing big appeared during the night though, save for Ren’s side that finally stopped hurting, so you skip to something else quickly.

**> Have everybody take a look at those rocks before you draw the card. Does anybody recognize the marks on them? Also, has anybody changed visibly overnight?**

You’re about to draw the next card when you remember the carved stones. You didn’t understand what they meant last night, but it crosses your mind that maybe one of your teammates would.

You pass the rocks along, observing the confused faces of your partners, until one of the stones reaches Ren who turns it around before making an even more confused face than before.

_“Héi Xiong.”_

You all turn to stare at him.

He tells something to Nora, who kindly translate it to you. It also explains to you why was Ren so confused. It sure doesn’t make any sense in this context.

_“Black Bear.”_

After a couple seconds, Ren tells you he thinks it’s a name. For a couple others, everyone wonder why would anyone carve some random name on a stone. The wondering stops as quickly as they’d started as everyone reach the same conclusion. You need to be motivated after all, and wondering if this might be a tombstone left by someone’s teammate isn’t going to help you.

You shake your head and put the rocks back on the ground respectfully, before asking if everyone is ready to run. They all answer positively. Good.

You draw the card.

                                   _Queen of fire_

_Only missing a crown_

_Be fast and strong_

_Or she’ll burn you down_

You quickly spot the stairs, as always, but something prevent you from rushing like you did yesterday. A sound, actually. A single, light footstep, behind you.

Followed by a clear and unfamiliar voice.

_“Hello.”_

**_Think fast. Act fast. Be fast._ **


	69. 066

**> Turn around toward the voice, then start backing up slowly. Try to stall for time and maybe distract the voice. Arrange yourselves so that the strongest fighters are farthest from the exit (in case you need to defend yourselves against this person). Fast people in the middle, so they can help the slower members of your group - who should be near the back- get away quicker, if need be.**

**> Turn around! Be ready to make a distraction for your team while they get out of there!**

You turn around quickly, taking a step back. You don’t try to give instructions about organization and stuff. They know what they have to do. Beside, you don’t think you really have the time anyway.

You’re ready.

**> Admire the strangers beauty- wait no that’s a bad idea. Maybe you should evaluate if they’re a threat or not?**

Too late. During a faint second, you’re lost admiring the stranger’s beauty. She surely is a pretty person; eyes of gold, smooth-looking skin, and that cocky smile… It certainly please your aesthetics.

That’s a second too much.

The stranger raise her hand quickly, a flame lighting up in her palm, and you know you’re screwed. It’s funny, how a person’s life depends on very few things-

_“Ruby! Goose!”_

See? Very few things.

Something heavy and pink tackles you to the ground. There is a loud explosion, followed by a weak groan coming from above you.

Your head is spinning from having been slammed against the ground so roughly, so the next sounds and screams you hear sound far away and indistinct to your ears. After a few second, though, someone grabs your savior and yourself to pull you back on your feet, and then your head doesn’t matter anymore because the only thing that does is running.

**> Don’t talk to the sexy fire lady she will /kill/ you.**

You’ve noticed.

From the corner of your eyes, you see Blake and Weiss fighting her, using their speeds to distract her from the others and avoid getting hit. Next to you, you see Ren and Pyrrha carrying an unusually limp Nora. The rest of the team is already ahead and screaming at all of you to speed up.

You probably should.

**> DO NOT ENGAGE THE FIRE LADY. RUN RUN RUN RUUUUUUN**

**> RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN**

Your head doesn’t matter.

Nor does thinking.

Nor does observing.

Only one thing does

and it’s running.

You run despite the shouting and the explosions, despite the sudden fireballs lending near you, past your teammates, up those damned blue stairs. When you eventually manage to calm yourself down and slow down, your legs are shaking, your lungs on fire, but you’re alive.

The stairs fade away and a loud frustrated scream is heard.

You made it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't be gay for your foes it kills.


	70. 067

**> Turn around toward the voice, then start backing up slowly. Try to stall for time and maybe distract the voice. Arrange yourselves so that the strongest fighters are farthest from the exit (in case you need to defend yourselves against this person). Fast people in the middle, so they can help the slower members of your group - who should be near the back- get away quicker, if need be.**

**> Turn around! Be ready to make a distraction for your team while they get out of there!**

You turn around quickly, taking a step back. You don’t try to give instructions about organization and stuff. They know what they have to do. Beside, you don’t think you really have the time anyway.

You’re ready.

**> Admire the strangers beauty- wait no that’s a bad idea. Maybe you should evaluate if they’re a threat or not?**

Too late. During a faint second, you’re lost admiring the stranger’s beauty. She surely is a pretty person; eyes of gold, smooth-looking skin, and that cocky smile… It certainly please your aesthetics.

That’s a second too much.

The stranger raise her hand quickly, a flame lighting up in her palm, and you know you’re screwed. It’s funny, how a person’s life depends on very few things-

_“Ruby! Goose!”_

See? Very few things.

Something heavy and pink tackles you to the ground. There is a loud explosion, followed by a weak groan coming from above you.

Your head is spinning from having been slammed against the ground so roughly, so the next sounds and screams you hear sound far away and indistinct to your ears. After a few second, though, someone grabs your savior and yourself to pull you back on your feet, and then your head doesn’t matter anymore because the only thing that does is running.

**> Don’t talk to the sexy fire lady she will /kill/ you.**

You’ve noticed.

From the corner of your eyes, you see Blake and Weiss fighting her, using their speeds to distract her from the others and avoid getting hit. Next to you, you see Ren and Pyrrha carrying an unusually limp Nora. The rest of the team is already ahead and screaming at all of you to speed up.

You probably should.

**> DO NOT ENGAGE THE FIRE LADY. RUN RUN RUN RUUUUUUN**

**> RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN**

Your head doesn’t matter.

Nor does thinking.

Nor does observing.

Only one thing does

and it’s running.

You run despite the shouting and the explosions, despite the sudden fireballs lending near you, past your teammates, up those damned blue stairs. When you eventually manage to calm yourself down and slow down, your legs are shaking, your lungs on fire, but you’re alive.

The stairs fade away and a loud frustrated scream is heard.

You made it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't be gay for your foes it kills.


	71. 068

**> Stay wary! Just cause the stairs disappear doesn’t mean she can’t shoot fireballs up here. Look for cover, in case anything else shows up…**

You look around. This is true. For once, none of you is sure that the stairs are enough to keep you safe.

Ah, there. Not deep enough to be called a cave, but still a good place to recover, you think. Far from the former stairs and easy to defend. Perfect.

_“Guys.. Guys, we need to move. This way…”_

God, you’re _tired_.

**> DID EVERYONE MAKE IT UP THE STAIRS I S2G EVERYONE BETTER BE SAFE**

**> Wait. Where is Zwei? IS OUR CORGI FRIEND OKAY!?**

Everybody move to follow you. You use that moment to have a quick look at your team.

….Thank god everybody is here. Even Zwei, though his fur is more short on and scorched on one side than on the other. Good dog. Best friend.

**> Health check. Wounds, damage, what’s with Nora being unconcious, that might be a concussion. Look around, someone may be missing an arm. Make sure Nora’s alive. Bandage wounds, treat injuries, do anything and everything you can. DON’T go for the next card. We may need to take a day or two off before we do anything more. Look around, examine the campsite when you have free moment, see where the softest ground is, and have the wounded lay there. Remember: You WILL win.**

**> Get to safety, catch your breath, and then figure out why Nora was all limp. Is she ok?**

Yeah, you probably shouldn’t draw the next card today. Or even tomorrow. That’d be near suicidal considering your states.

Yang carefully settles Nora against the rockface, Ren rummaging in his bag for healing supplies. You’re afraid for a second that your petite friend might be dead, but your eye catch the faint raising of her chest. If she’s breathing, then she’s alive, right?

Breathing means good.

Your gaze wander on her body. Head is okay, no blood, no cuts, chest and stomach seems okay too, her legs..

Oh God.

That does _not_ mean good.

Ren tells you he will take care of her, and you should do your own business. You know. Make sure everyone is okay. Explore the place. See is there is any useful stuff around.

You take the hint. You leave him alone.

The rest of your team is… well, not _fine_ , but still in better shape. Blake and Weiss are covered of burns and bruises, already taking care of each others’ wounds. There’s a bloody bandage on Weiss’s arm. She tells you she summoned ice with her weapon, but the stranger exploded it and a shard wounded her. Nothing to worry about, though. The tip of Blake’s ear is also bright red, missing its fur. They tell you they ducked too late.

You don’t think you’ll ever be able to thank them enough for the time they bought you.

Jaune stands staring at the void for a moment, looking in some sort of daze, until you start talking to him. He almost jump out of his skin, but as soon as he realize it’s you, he calms down. He seems okay, at least physically. He leaves to help Ren as soon as you two are done talking. You suppose he needs something too keep his mind busy.

Yang and Pyrrha also seems mostly alright. Yang asks you if she can explore the area and make sure you’re all safe. Her eyes are red. You accept, as long as Pyrrha goes with her. You don’t want anyone to be alone for now.

Welp. That’s it.

You are so, so very tired.


	72. 069

**>  Food check! It hasn’t been long, but you should keep a close eye on your food and water, especially water. Let’s hope none of it evaporated because of the little spitfire.**

You can’t help but let out a groan when you see the state of your supplies. You think you can last two or three more days with that, but a good bunch of your water have been -and is currently- used to take care of the wounds. You wonder if you can find any water and preys here.

You should probably ask Yang when she’ll be back. If there is something, she’ll see it.

**> form a dog club (even though your a wolf) with zwei**

Zwei’s approach you, tail waving. You crouch down and hug this little sausage tight against your chest. He doesn’t protest.

Yeh. That was a good idea.

**> I think everyone needs hugs. GIVE EVERYONE HUGS RUBY!**

That’s true! You can’t really give one to the boys, they’re working, nor to those who went exploring, but Weiss and Blake are here and just done with dealing with their burns.

They both accept to hug gladly. It feels really nice.

You’re kind of glad you ended up teaming up with these guys.

**> Stare at the top of Weiss’s head. What are those things?**

What thin- oh.

_Oh._

Things are growing on the sides of Weiss’s head. They are long and looks like they’re made out of wood, it’s pretty weird. You ask her about it. She looks confused a second, then slowly raise a hand to touch the head-sticks. Her face goes a pale.

Okay not good not good not good

Thankfully Blake knows better than you how to react -well they _did_ help you with your own ears after all. It still takes a few minutes to calm her down though.

The next few minutes are spent debating about what actually are those things, debate without any conclusion since none of your friends seems to know the english word for whatever they try to tell you. You all seems to agree that they’re antlers of some kinds, though. That’s a step forward.

**>  Tend to wounds. Weiss’s, Yang’s, Blake’s, ANYBODY’S. Just something to get lost in. When you’re done with that, look up towards the top of the mountain, and remember this: If you turn back now, you will probably not make it to the village. Then, steel yourself. Reflect on Nora’s wounds, and how badly they’ll impede her ability to walk or run. You may need to designate someone to carry her. Go over the injuries, and take a mental reassessment of strengths and weaknesses. Then, just hope.**

Weiss tells you you should get your wounds taken care off, and suggest helping you if you want. You accept. Blake tells you they’ll see how are Jaune and Ren doing, and if they can help them too.

While your oldest partner start bandaging you, you make a mental list of everyone’s state. You don’t think Nora will be able to walk for a while, if she can do it again at all, yet alone running. You’ll probably have to ask one of the guys to carry her. Maybe even take turns.

Yang will probably have cooled down during her walk, so as long as you manage to get her to rest she should be one of the most capable members of your team, along with Pyrrha.

Weiss and Blake are okay, but obviously exhausted. You don’t think they’ll be able to do something like that again anytime soon. They worked great as a team, on the other hand.

You look down. You’ve gone too far to go back now. You look up. You estimate you’re roughly halfway to the top. Not so bad, is it?

You’re going to make it. You know you will. You have to.

Oh, hey, look who’s back!


	73. 070

**>  hug them. hug them both just hug it out**

You don’t let them the time to talk before shoving your arms around them. They both look surprised, but hug back. Yeah, it probably looks a bit weird from someone else’s point of view.

You don’t care. You crossed the weird line long ago.

**>  ask Yang+Pyrrha what they saw and if they found anything**

You do. Yang tells you they found weird carved stones again, but she could read some of those. She quickly change the subject though. She also tells you that they found some water too -it’s kind of hard to reach on the other hand. If you want to collect it you’ll have to ask a good climber to do so.- and that Pyrrha heard things running not that far from where they were. She thinks you could hunt whatever it is if you ever run out of food. You keep that in mind.

She also tells you that Pyrrha got the animal thingy too. You don’t immediately get it, until you see striped triangular ears twitching on top of her head.

Oh.

Well she seems to take it way better than Weiss or you at first at least. You suppose she knew it’d happen at some point.

You tell them the last news, namely Weiss’s antlers and Nora’s bad state, but you’re interrupted by Ren popping out of nowhere. He tells you he did all he could for Nora, and if anyone else need there wounds tended or anything, he’s here and happy to oblige. The girls look at you with a concerned look on their face -Ren does look extremely stressed out after all- before asking him to take care of their injuries.

Okay. You know what is around. Ren is taking care of Yang and Pyrrha. Jaune is with Nora, who’s probably still unconscious. The monochrome duo is checking on each others weapons and and talking about… Fighting techniques, apparently, judging by their gestures.

_What do you do?_


	74. 071

**> Go to Weiss and Blake and see if you can contribute anything to their discussion. You have a scythe… how well can you use it? Ask them to help perfect your techniques. Also a good chance for Weiss to observe your figure.**

**>  Join Weiss and Blake, you could probably learn something from them. Once Pyrrha and Yang are all patched up, ask them to join too. The boys should go to sleep once no one needs immediate medical attention.(They seem very tired)**

You tell the explorers you’re joining the monochrome duo, and they should join you all once their wounds are tended. They agree. You also tell Ren to get some sleep once he’s done. He doesn’t look happy about it, but tell you he’ll do that. You really hope he will.

You spend the next couple hours with Blake and Weiss. Out of you three, Weiss is the only one who seems to actually know her weapon. This leads to interesting arguments and suggestions about how to use this or that and what kind of trick you could pull on foes.

After roughly half an hour, Pyrrha join you all, and another half-hour later, Yang is here too.

You sure have a better idea about how to use your scythe now.

**>  CUDDLE PILE!**

It’s not even noon, but you all seems so tired you decide to call a break. Nobody think about setting night -well, day- watch during the nap this time. You join the boys in the almost-cave and all collapse on the bare ground, arms lazily shoved around each others.

Big cuddle party. Just what you needed.

You close your eyes and slip into unconsciousness.

**>  Are dream sequences a thing in this bc if so maybe you should go to sleep and have one**

You are now WEISS SCHNEE and you are DREAMING.

_What are you dreaming about?_


	75. 072

**> You just woke up in your dream but you’re stuck in a glass coffin but the coffin breaks thanks to Jaune’s terrible singing and rocking the electric guitar in his prince outfit. You stand up to find yourself in a white royal dress with three other figures around you, Ruby, Yang and Bake in some fantasy clothing.**

You open your eyes and find yourself stuck in a glass coffin. That’s… Weird. You don’t remember falling asleep there in the first place.

Thankfully, an awful singing reach your ears, making you cringe. Yeah, in itself, it isn’t a good thing, but the glass shatter in front of you thanks to it. As you step out of that unusual bed, you spot the singer in the corner of your eye, wearing terrible cliche prince clothes. This is just getting weirder each seconds.

You look around you. Three other figures runs toward you, figures you recognize as Ruby, Blake and Yang. They are all wearing some fantasy clothes that are, you have to admit, better-looking than whatever that prince -who apparently just vanished?- wore earlier. Not much, though.

**>  You’re standing in front of Yang in your Avatar outfit while Yang is pun-bending.**

**>  You’re just standing with Ruby saying pick-up lines and flirting with you.**

**>  You’re standing in a field. Ruby is playing air guitar on her scythe. She gives you a dazzling smile. You don’t know if you think she’s a colossal dork or absolutely charming.**

Yang throws an arm around you, her outfit reminding you of that good serie with elementsbending you watched back on your earth and wink at you.

_“Hey, wanna feel my abs? They’re **rock-hard.”**_

You roll your eyes so hard you wonder how come you haven’t caught a glimpse of the back of your skull. However, your suffering doesn’t end here, as Ruby zip next to you and pulls out his enormous scythe before starting to play air guitar with it.

_“Can you feel the love tonight?”_

That’s it. You’re done. So. Fucking. Done.

You lift up the edge of your white dress and walk away.

**>  dream of ruby and blake being really close but why do you care because apparently your a queen now go forth and order your people**

There aren’t a lot of people to order around, but you’re overwhelmed with that feeling, that knowledge, that you’re the queen.

You turn your head; Yang is walking away, head down, looking disappointed. Ruby is now sat on the bare ground, chatting actively with Blake.

This pisses you off to no end.

You walk back to them with your famous scowl look on your face and put a hand on their shoulders violently.

“What do you think you’re doing? You two do not bond without me.”

There’s a second of silence, then Ruby laughs frankly and Blake shuffles your hair. This pisses you off even more. And also makes you feel a bit giddy for some reasons.

You suppose it’s just how it feels when you have actual trustworthy friends.

**>  Dream of what it’ll be like when you get out of this place. Definitely do not dream of anybody dying.Or your injuries. Or Nora’s.Or Blake’s. Or Yang’s.Or Ruby’s. Or Pyrrha’s.Or Ren’s. That would be a bad idea. Definitely do not do that.**

**>  Have a spooky prophetic dream sequence that also tells your backstory!**

**>  You’re having a dream about pancakes!**

A loud crack suddenly occurs. Your face, along with the ladybug duo’s, turn pale. This can’t foreshadow anything good.

Sadly, none of you have the time to move before the earth shatter under you and you fall? You hear screams, -your own, theirs- everything goes black for a second, and the next time you blink you’re sat on your father’s carpet.

Wait.

Your-

You run a finger fearfully against the carpet. It’s fluffly. It’s red. And it’s exactly how you remembered it.

You’re home.

You’re _home_.

You hear something break next to you and you jump on your feet. You turn around as quickly as you can, drawing out your sword, only to face a very familiar person who just dropped her pancake plate in disbelief.

_“Sister?”_

**>  Dream about growing horns that are getting dangerously close to poking your eyes out. Then notice that you have these strange red and white balls attached to your belt. Blake and a girl with green hair are sleeping under a tree. A voice cries out, “Ye Gods this is meta!” Realize that this is a dream because this world has no smell. Why? Because there’s no fun in making scents.**

You want to reach for her. You really do.

You want to call out her name, to feel her in your arms, to hear your mother tongue, to ensure that everything is _real_.

But you can’t, because horns -not antlers, horns- suddenly sprout out of your skull and get close, so close to your eyes, threatening to blind you. As you raise your hands to protect your sight, you notice red and white things hanging off your belt.

You raise your head, frowning. Blake and a girl with green hair are sleeping in a tree. You lower your gaze. In front of you, where was standing your sister, there is a goat. A distorted, metallic voice escape its throat, saying very clearly.

_“Ye Gods this is meta!”_

Your ears hurt. Your head does too. You take a step back, wincing, your eyes focused on the floor.

Wait.

The floor.

Where the pancakes are.

You take a big breath, sniffing.

You don’t smell a thing.

_This is a dream._

\- - -

You wake up.

God, you aren’t eating any of those purple mushrooms again.

_You are now RUBY ROSE again, and you just woke up as well._

_What do you do?_


	76. 073

**>  Wake up from your dream of air guitaring a scythe. Wonder if Weiss had any weird dreams, and reminisce happily that you were serenading her in your dreams. Check up on everyone and see how the weather is today.**

This was the weirdest. Dream. Ever. Why would you even serenade Weiss? This have absolutely no chances to work. Ever.

You ear flicker. You hear rain pounding out of the almost-cave. You’re glad you have something above your head.

**> Talk about triangular eggs**

Fuck eggs. You know what you want? Meat. Red, warm meat. _That_ is the best.

**>  Weiss seems a bit off- maybe she had a bad dream? Check on her.**

You move in order to the see the face of the girl in your arms. She looks  like she just ate something rotten.

_“Hey, you okay Weiss?”_

She shakes her head.

_“Weirding dream.”_

_“Wanna talk about it?”_

_“No. Leave me alone.”_

Oh well. At least it’s clear.

**> Everyone: Worry because you clearly just ate some hallucinogens.**

You are _not_ touching those mushrooms again. Ever.

**> arise from the cuddle pile**

It takes you some time, due to how tight Blake is holding you, but you manage to get out of their grip and arise from the cuddle pile. Your teammate groans and curls into a ball where you used to sleep, filling the void between Weiss’s back and Yang’s chest.

They seem to enjoy themselves.

**> see if blake is awake. If so chat actively with blake.**

They obviously aren’t, otherwise they would have said something. Or maybe they are but wanted to get a chance to cuddle with both your sister and your team personal grouch. You don’t know. In all cases, you can’t chat with them for now.

**>  Shoot up, saying “Beavers and ducks.” If anyone asks you what that was about, say nothing. Then proceed to take stock of the situation around you.**

_“Beavers and duck.”_

Yeah. You’d like to eat that. You wonder if you can find any in those mountains.

_“Awake already?”_

You freeze.

That voice…

It’s….

No…

You turn around violently.

Nora waves at you, looking extremely tired.

Oh

Hell

Yes.


	77. 074

**> Prepare to glomp Nora! But then remember that she is injured and politely ask instead. Now that you think about it, Weiss may be more receptive of hugs if you ask for them first.**

You’re about to jump on her and hug her, but thankfully you remember on time her state and land next to her. If you had a tail, you’d wave it.

_“I’m so glad to see you awake! I was scared you’d never wake up. Can I hug you?”_

She stays silent a second, apparently to process the information -oh, right, language barrier. Fuck this.- then smiles and spreads wide her arms.

She’s shivering, and not nearly energetic as she was the first time you saw her, but as you nuzzle her neck and hear her pulse against your ear, you can’t bring yourself to mind because she is _alive_ and _breathing_ and you reached the point here this is all you ask for.

You should ask for hugs more often, from her just like from Yang or Weiss or Blake. They feel good.

**>  As carefully as you can, give Nora a hug, then ask if there’s anything she feels like someone should check on, other injuries than the legs and such.**

_“How do you feel? Does it hurt anywhere?”_

She shakes her head, then wave toward her legs.

_“That’s the worse. Rest is negligible.”_

….You aren’t sure if this is a good or a bad thing.

**> Be careful around Nora. We don’t know the damage to her legs yet, and we don’t want to cause anymore damage. Ask if she’s okay, how long she’s been up, if she had any strange dreams, if she has any dating tips to get Weiss’s affections directed towards you, if she has heard the Holy Word of Nian, you know, the things you’re planning to ask everyone when you get out of this Hellhole. Than, chat with her. Apologize, as well. Your actions led to her current wounds, after all. Be strong. Hope**

You ask how long as she been awake, and if she had any strange dreams.

_“Dunno. An hour? I think.”_

_“Nah. Pancakes. Lot of. Usual.”_

You suppose asking _Nora_ if she had weird dreams was a pretty stupid idea.

You also suppose it’s time for you to apologize.

_“Nora, I want to tell you. I’m sor-”_

_“Don’t.”_

You blink. You didn’t think you’d get interrupted before the end of your sentence. It also briefly crosses your mind that she and Yang should hang out more; You’re sure they have a lot in common.

_“Yeah, you acted stupid. But no orders. No obligations. I could have run. I could have left.”_

_“But I didn’t. I made a choice. And it was saving you.”_

You bury your face further into her shoulder, unable to face her. You feel a hand running in your hair and starting to pet you behind your ears.

_“You’re worth all the running, Ruby.”_

You grip tighten around her and you begin to cry.

….

It takes you a moment to calm down. When you do, you notice that some of your teammates awoken, but stayed away from you in order to give you some illusion of privacy.

Outside, the rain had stopped, but it also looks like the sun will set in barely a couple hours.

_What do you do?_


	78. 075

**> Ask Nora more specifically about the pain. If she isn’t feeling any, that’s a problem. It means she has third degree burns, and she isn’t feeling pain because there aren’t any nerve endings left to feel the pain. Then, after assessing her state and making sure someone’s up to looking after her for a while, ask Weiss for a hug. Whisper Nian’s Holy Word into her ear while you hug her. It works every time, trust me. Then, scout out the area some more, and get a group ready to hunt.**

_“Tights hurt. Below, not anymore.”_

She smiles at you.

You aren’t fooled. She knows what it means.

And, unfortunately, you do too.

….You should get going. See what you can do here before hunting outside for a bit.

**>  Eat, drink, continue treating the wounded. Then, go around asking for hugs. You’ve all earned it. Hug Weiss especially long,if she allows it.**

You take a quick back out of your supplies and drink a bit. It feels weird to not be with everyone this time. But you really needed it.

You have a quick look around. Weiss, Jaune and Blake are nowhere to be seen. Yang and Pyrrha are talking in a corner. You think they’re comparing abs. Ren is collecting branches. You think he wants to light a fire tonight. It’d be nice.

You go for him first, not wanting to disturb the others. You ask for a hug. He complies. He seems a bit stiff, though. You don’t think he’s used to them.

You ask him to take care of Nora. He nods. You know you can trust him when it comes to her.

As you’re about to leave, though, he stops you by grabbing you shoulder.

_“What you did down was stupid.”_

You look down. You know someone would tell you that. You can’t even blame him; He’s right.

_“Don’t do again. Nora only have one set of legs. If she lost them for you to get died next card, I’ll kill you.”_

…Oh.

He releases your shoulder and leaves. You didn’t think he’d be the aggressive protective type. On the other hand, you don’t know much about him either.

If you’re going to make it to the top together, you should probably change that someday.

You then join the girls. You chat for a few minutes, -you’ve never really talked to Pyrrha before. She’s cool.- then suggest going out hunting. Surprisingly, they accept. You didn’t think they would, to be honest. Pyrrha tells you she wants to see how useful can be her ears. Yang doesn’t say a thing, but you know she wants to keep herself busy to avoid thinking about the bad things.

As you head out, you run into Weiss, who’s holding a handful of branches, leaves and berries. You smile at her and let your teammates take the lead. They were the one who explored the place earlier, after all.

**>  Gather supplies and locate the next card to draw. It’s probably best to wait until tomorrow morning to draw it, though. Try to strategize.**

The hunt is good. You catch a marmot, and with Pyrrha’s help you manage to catch an ibex as well. Yang is the one carrying them.

You feel really good when you hunt. The wind, the ground under your feet, the thrill of the chase, it just feels _right_.

~~_You don’t like that. It’s like you’re slowly forgetting you’re human._ ~~

You also find the next rule stone. You stay away from it.  Next to it, there are a couple carved stones, similar to the one you’ve already seen. You can read two of them.

_M̶e̷l͟an̕i̕ȩ ̡Mal̨ach͢i҉te̸_

_Mercury ͢B͜l̴ack͜_

You don’t want to know what they mean.

When you finally come back, it’s dark -not that it bother you, though. You just have to guide your sister at the same time- and nobody’s missing. A small fire is burning in front of the cave, your whole team sat around it -even Nora, though you doubt she came there by herself. Ren must have moved her.-

If you have anything to say to them, any orders to give, any strategies to discuss, now is the perfect time to do so. Or you could just all go to sleep. Your choice.


	79. 076

**>  designate someone to help Nora along, then go to sleep**

_“I’ll take care of her.”_

Welp. Done. You tell Jaune he’ll have to help Ren though. Carrying someone all day must be tiring.

**> Discuss strategies. Plan for any and all eventual outcomes, come up with outlandish scenarios that the next card could be, and discuss how you would adapt and change. This should have been done before the first card, but it never happened. Also, dispense with the concept of “Beauty”. For now, at least. You got distracted before, and it should not happen again. Designate someone to carry Nora (Possibly Ren or Blake). Maybe leave some flowers at the rocks. Then sleep. Have prophetic dreams.**

**> Talk with the others about how you plan to tackle the next card. Exchange theories on what the next challenge will be about, then suggest a partner system. If you have a partner, they can keep you in check if you get distracted, or if you trip up, anything that would suggest you needing immediate help. After all the strategy talk is done, you should suggest that you all should sleep in a big cuddle pile. Cuddle piles help. Did you know sleeping with someone helps trust form between you?**

You swear you aren’t getting distracted by something so stupid ever again. You are the leader. You have responsibilities. You can’t afford any other victims.

You suggest everyone to take partners. This way, it’d be easier to help each others. Weiss add that you should take partners of the same height and body shape in order to avoid getting stuck because one had to carry someone injured and unfortunately twice their weight.

From that, and the former bonds that have already been made between everyone, you make four teams: you and Weiss, the tiniest, Blake and Yang, the middle-heighten, Jaune and Pyrrha, the human skyscrapers, and Ren and Nora, since they’re the last ones.

The next half hour is spent talking about strategy; so far, you’ve met three types of cards: natural disasters, monsters and people. Obviously, people are the most dangerous. You decide to set some basic guidelines:

  * Always stay by your partner’s side.
  * If it’s a disaster, run. If anyone need help, help them.
  * If it’s a monster, run. If it turns out that it can’t be outran, everyone must help fighting it.
  * If it’s a person, the White Rose (your team) must fight them first, to distract them from the others, since you’re the fastest. If You still need time after, the Bumblebees will take your place and spare. And then, again, the Arkos.
  * The Renora must be protected at all cost



You think that’s enough. If anyone think of other things during the night, they’ll tell it in the morning.

Lastly, you call everyone to cuddle again tonight. While they all agree, Nora tells you she wants to ask you something first.

_“My legs. Useless. Dead weight.”_

You know. You all do.

_“Cut them off.”_

You aren’t the only one to make an horrified face.

_“Please. Don’t want t slow you guys down. Beside, if I can’t walk again, I don’t want to see reminders of when I could.”_

She has a point. But it’s just… you…

You tell her you’ll think about it. She tells you it better not be a way to avoid answering. You swear it isn’t.

You go to sleep with a troubled mind and full of guilt.

_What should you do tomorrow morning?_


	80. 077

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw for graphic-ish amputation at the end of the chapter

**>  When you wake up, discuss amputating Nora’s legs a bit more extensively. Consider the supplies available and the care that would be necessary to pay the legs afterwards to prevent infection. Consider your lack of painkillers. If, considering all of these things, Nora still wants to amputate her legs, then do it right here and right now. Do not draw the next card. You can get food and water here and you have shelter- you can camp here for a bit while she recovers.**

When you’re done with your morning routine, you discuss the amputation issue with the others. Nora is still determined about the matter. Ren says he’s by her side. Blake and Yang thinks that it’d be better to cut them.

**>  Ruby, it’s probably not a good idea to cut them off just yet. You don’t have a way to keep them clean, a steady supply of fresh bandages to constantly change, or a sterile tool. Really, cutting legs is a very risky thing in and of itself, especially without a medical facility encompassing you, ready to intervene if you accidentally cut an artery. It’s just not a good idea at this moment. If you get rewards for passing levels, wait until you get proper medical supplies, at least.**

Those are Weiss’s and Jaune’s arguments. Pyrrha is neutral.

Four against two. Amputation it will be.

**>  It’s tough,but you know what you have to do. Make sure to clean Nora’s wounds as best you can. Do everything to make it less horrible for her. Get the others to help if necessary.You may not want, but you know you have to. You’ll have to cut Nora’s legs off**

You don’t want to do it. God you SO don’t want to do it.

But it’s your fault, and you have to.

You don’t know a lot about that kind of things, but suddenly, you know what you have to do. It’s like suddenly having knowledge poured right in your brain. 

It's like have suggestions whispered in your ears.

You usually don’t like to think about it, since it sounds a little too much like you’re merely a puppet here, but for once you can’t help but thanks whatever is helping you. Whether it’s just old half-forgotten knowledge or some weird spirit goat, it’s still super useful.

You send Blake and Jaune gather wood and whatever plants they think can be useful outside. You also ask Pyrrha to check how much bandages you all have left, as well as the water. You ask your sister to seek something that can hold water and not burn as well.

While they flee, you start getting your scythe sharper. You hate this. But you don’t have the choice.

When they come back, you lit up a big fire and give a stick to bite to Nora. It turns out that you will probably be a bit short on bandages. You tear off the remnants of your cape and a large part of your shirt to compensate.

Fire, done. What is coming next again?

Oh. Right.

Yang is back with some kind of sunken piece of wood. Not the best thing you could ever have, but it will do. As you start boiling the water, you tie a tourniquet right above Nora’s knees -she grimace, but doesn’t complain. She’s a tough girl.

Blake gives you a handful of plants. She designates some that are useful for disinfecting, and others good against pain. You boil the later aside from the main water. Nora tells you she feels numb after drinking it. You hope it’s a good thing.

Okay. Okay. Water: boiled. Bandages: clean. Crescent Rose: sterilized.

You hope you didn’t forget anything.

…

Time to go.

…

You don’t think you’ll ever be able to wipe those screams out of your head. Nor the feeling of the hard bones under the blade, or the sight of the blood flowing freely out of the open wounds, if only for a second before bandages are wrapped around the raw flesh.

God, you better make it after this.

Though, you don’t think you’ll be able to move before a couple days, at least. You’ll make it three, just to be sure.

_Do you have anything particular to do during those three days?_


	81. 078

**>  See to Nora for a few hours. See how she feels, if she needs any emotional support (In fact, everyone should do this for the first few hours before breaking off into shifts corresponding to ships). Then, hang out with Weiss. Try to get her to scratch your head. It felt REALLY nice last time, let’s see if it does this time! And it’ll hopefully strengthen the bond between you two (And one step closer to White Rose… )! Tell her she looks beautiful (Because you’ve been captivated by it.)**

**>  Spend time with each and every one of your companions. Get to know each one of them personally.**

The next few days pass slowly and eventlessly. Not even the slightest hint of animal bits appeared on any of you. You managed to have at least one person at Nora’s bed -not a literal bed, of course, you don’t have any- at all times, for emotional support and to check on her. You can’t help but admire her strength in this moment.

Though you spend the most time with Weiss and Yang -and, by extension, Blake- you do your best to get to know all the members of your team a bit better. You hunt a bit with Pyrrha, spar with Ren, cook with Jaune… You learn things. You bond. It feels nice. Surreal, almost.

But, of course, those moments can’t last forever; you signed up to get to the top, and that’s what you’re going to do. You collect anything you might need in the future -water, food, herbs- deposit a few flowers on the tombstones, crack your knuckles, make sure Nora is comfortable and Ren’s shoulder, and draw the next card.

_Player, here a thing you should never forget_

_Reality is often similar to dreams_

_On your way toward freedom_

_Things are not always what they seem_

Your muscles tense, your ears flicker, ready to attack or run at the slightlest movement… But nothing happens. At all. After five solid minutes, it’s obvious that nothing will jump out of nowhere to attack you on the spot.

Further, the stairs can be seen.

….Weird.


	82. 079

**>  This card sounds like it will be illusions. If this is true, you can’t trust your senses. Proceed carefully and stick together! Check in with each other to make sure you’re experiencing the same thing.**

**>  You may be asleep, or just hallucinating. Try to wake up.**

That’d be logic. Though, it’s kind of weird to have a card with an actually understandable meaning.

You pinch your cheeks, nibbles at your fingers. …Nope. Not dreaming.

You ask the others what they see, how they feel. They tell you they feel normal, and they see the stairs at the same place you see it. If you’re hallucinating, you’re all having the same dream then.

**>  Chances are, those stairs aren’t the real ones. Have the pairs search for the real ones, and be careful; touching the false steps could potentially harm you.**

**>  Test the stairs carefully. Maybe throw a rock to see if they are really solid. Ask everyone else their opinion on the riddle. There’s no visible and imminent dangers… which means this may be even more dangerous because you’ll let your guard down.**

**>  Eh, walk towards the stairs?**

You inform the others that you think those stairs aren’t real. Weiss tells you that she thinks the idea is far-fetched and unlikely, but the others agree. After a moment bickering, you agree on splitting the pairs in order to look for the real exit.

Your team is the one heading toward the current stairs.

You look around carefully, but you don’t see any other stairs hiding behind this one. Weiss starts throwing rocks on the steps. They seem real.

You’re puzzled. Maybe you understood the riddle wrong?

You turn around to call the others, but a yelp -Jaune’s- prevent you from doing so. You quickly try to spot the Arkos, and you see the others doing the same.

You find Pyrrha, standing next to tiny and bicolored person.

Jaune is lying on his back eighty feets away from her, a hand clunched on his side.

_If you’re going to do something, you should do it fast._


	83. 080

**>  Remember, y'all planned for this. What’s the plan y'all devised for a situation like this?**

 

Right. The plan. What was it again?

Oh, right. Run with Weiss and distract the enemy.

You can do that.

**>  Remember the strategy! Princess carry Weiss and rush down there and distract tiny person. Drop Weiss off a little bit away so she can prepare herself for the fight. (Lol don’t fight with her in your arms). Pyrrha can handle Jaune. Protect your allies and retreat towards the stairs. Keep your guard up and be wary in case your opponent can teleport or do other weird illusion things… like target your injured party members.**

**>  Tagteam with Weiss- run at your foe and be prepared to kill her as fast as possible. You won’t let anybody else get hurt.**

_“Weiss! With me!”_

You run. Rose petals scatter behind you, glyphs appear as Weiss join you… And when you reach Pyrrha, who’s holding her spear high, protecting Jaune, your foe is gone.

…Wha-

You’re cut off by another scream, scream ending in a disgusting gargling noise. Your sister’s scream.

 

**>  Tell the rest of the group to head for the stairs (especially Nora and Ren) while you and Weiss deal with the situation. Also make sure Yang doesn’t get involved in the fight!!!!!**

“ _Scheiße_!”

You don’t know what Weiss said, but you agree. You have to be _faster_.

_“Guys! Retreat! Weiss, get ready to help me if needed!”_

And you run again. This time, though, you go just as fast as you can. You don’t wait for Weiss. You don’t care about your hurt feet. You just. _Run_.

And headbutt your foe before they have the time to teleport again.

You see from the corner of your eyes Blake dragging your sister away. Good. You don’t see how bad is her injury. Good. You won’t be distracted.

Your foe is.. certainly unusual.

They look like a young, almost childish man, with long bicolored hair tied in a ponytail. There’s a smirk as tiny as he is on his face, and he’s playing with a pink and bloody umbrella.

Alright. You can fight that. Or at least prevent him from attacking anyone else.

You rush forward, swinging your scythe. He dodges it without any difficulties. Fast type, uh?

You can be fast too.

You try being sneakier, smarter. It doesn’t work for long, as he adapts quickly and ward off your hits with ease, but at least you buy some time.

As your weapon is blocked again and a strong kick brings you to your knees in pain, you hope it was enough.

_“Pyrrha! Swingswong!”_

You hear a weird, metallic noise, and something fly above your head to hit the pink gremlin on the head -Nora’s hammer, you notice. As soon as your almost-murderer is on the ground, forehead bleeding, the hammer raises again, and two slim arms wrap themselves around you.

 

__

 

__

And the glyph appearing under you brings you to the stairs.

You see the stranger getting back on his feet -how did he even survive to this hit?- but it’s too late; Ren and Weiss bring you up the stairs and they vanish, trapping the psycho below.

Your lower stomach hurts. But it seems that you all made it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rip Ruby's balls.


	84. ?

Your card have been drawn.

It’d been a while, since the last time it happened. Not a lot of people made it far enough to have the possibility to draw you. And then again, there’s a lot of other cards that can be drawn.

You don’t appear immediately, though.You’re not bound by the rules to be loud like Roman, and they’ve made it far enough to allow you to appear somewhere else than right behind them. You can be subtle. And you’re going to be subtle.

So you wait. You wait for them to be confused, wait for them to make a stupid decision. And, when they’re at their most vulnerable point…

You _strike_.

Your target fly away when your umbrella hit him. You didn’t hold back. You hope you broke some of his bones.

You draw out your needle, smiling, but you see a couple things coming for you with a great speed. Your smile falters. Taking one girl down, you can. Taking three? You also can, but it’ll be way more difficult, and you aren’t very fond of fights you aren’t sure to win anyway.

Your gaze quickly go across the place. You see a very tall figure in the distance, and two shorter ones a bit closer.

Your smile comes back and you jumps back, teleporting again before your foes can reach you.

And you throw your weapon through the blonde’s throat.

Her scream ends up in a gargle as you pull back your needle and wipe it on her shirt. Next to her, her partner grabs her by the shoulders as she falls, looking panicked.

Your smile widen, and you raise your weapon again… Only to be headbutted by something with wolf ears and a scent of roses.

Ah, donger. Guess you won’t get the cat today.

Oh well.

You’ve got a new toy to play with.


	85. 081

**>  Status report. Make sure everyone is okay and out of immediate danger, especially Jaune and Yang since they sounded pretty bad back there. Again, keep guard up in case the opponent can still teleport up here (you can’t trust anything at this point, not even the stairs). On a whole, this battle went over a lot better than the last one.**

**>  Status check. Get everyone’s immediate injuries assessed. Then, split up into two teams: A team to take care of the wounded, and another team to set up camp in the most immediately obvious best place. Then have the second team get ready to scout out the immediate area, to look for a better place to rest, a water source, and the like. Ruby, you, Pyrrha, and Nora should be on first team, while Weiss and Ren should be on the scouting team. Have weapons out and ready. Pray to Nian Goat.**

You painfully get up and look around you.

Jaune is curled into a ball on the ground, holding his sides. Pyrrha and Nora had pulled up his shirt in order to inspect him. Bruises were already forming. You hope he doesn’t have anything broken. Ren is by your side, checking your injuries with his usual discretion -or maybe you were too dizzy to notice him earlier, you’re not sure- and the rest…

Oh

God

There is a large bloodstain on your sister’s shirt. Blake, sobbing, shaking, was pressing as hard as they could their shirt on her throat, helped by Weiss, who seemed just as shaken up. Zwei was poking Yang’s legs with the tip of his paws, like if he wanted to believe that she was okay. Her skin was paler than Weiss’s, and her eyes, half-closed, unfocused.

You wonder how you even manage to form coherent thoughts after seeing this.

_“Guys.. W-we… We can’t stay here..”_

The conscious part of your team look at you expectantly.

_“We need.. Scouts. People. To check the a-area. Look for sh-shelter. A-and supplies.”_

Why won’t you just stop _shaking_ ?!

_“I’ll go.”_

That was Ren.

_“…I’ll go too.”_

It was Weiss.

Pyrrha and Nora looked at each others before nodding.

_“I’ll join.”_

It was the redhead.

As they all get up and leave with haste, you approach your sister, slowly, like a zombie, and fall on your knees next to her. Blake doesn’t move an inch.

Silently, you join your hands to their’s to pray and hope for things to be okay.

_What will you do when the scouts will be back?_

 


	86. 082

**>  When Ren gets back, have him sew up Yang’s throat. For now, though, clean the wound and sterlize equiment. If one of you can sew, then you can sew it instead, though. Then, see to Jaune with Nora, let Blake look after Yang. Make sure he doesn’t have anything broken. He might have internal bleeding, in which case, he might die. But don’t dwell on that. For now, make sure he doesn’t have anything broken. If he does, what bones? And finally, are you just in a lot of pain, or were you wounded**

Even if you did know how to sew, you wouldn’t trust your shaking hands and blurry vision to fix anyone, and certainly not your sister. You’d rather not touch her wound for now.

After a moment, when the sight of Yang’s state makes you too sick, you get up, mumble an apology to Blake and leave. Gotta check on Jaune and stuff.

You’re glad no one else got hurt, though. Yourself were in a lot of pain, but you’re better now, and as healthy as you can ever be.

You reach Jaune and Nora. Nora seems to have… _Something_ growing on her back, but you don’t think it’s important at the moment. You have more urgent things  to do. Namely, be sure that Jaune won’t die on the spot.

 

He tells you it hurts a lot. Nora tells you he looks like that one dude she broke the ribs of accidentally during a tournament. You aren’t quite sure what to do with this affirmation so you don’t answer. You check Jaune’s limbs. They seem okay. The only part that hurts is his side. You hope it isn’t a too bad thing.

 

…Oh, look, the scouts are back.

**>  Turn to Weiss for emotional support.**

You want to, but when you take a step toward her she takes another in another direction. You don’t know if she doesn’t realize you want to talk to her of if she tries to avoid you. You don’t know either which one is worst.

_“We found a cave. A true one. There’s some stuff inside, too.”_

Got it. Ren takes Nora back on his shoulders; Pyrrha and Weiss take care of Jaune, and you and Blake deal with Yang. She’s heavy, and the path is narrow, but you manage to make it to the cave. Before entering, you ask Pyrrha to go seek wood and Ren to sterilize his stuff to take care of the blonde. He seems reluctant, but he accepts.

You feel drained.

_The cave is still unexplored, the scouts probably have seen more stuff around than simply this, and the sun won’t set before four or five hours. What do you do?_


	87. 083

**>  Talk to Weiss, she’s seen as much horrible stuff as you have. Maybe the situation’s just finally getting to her. You wouldn’t want one of your valued teammates (and hopefully-soon-to-be girlfriend) to have a breakdown, would you**

**>  Ask the scouts for more information.**

**>  Ask the scouts what they’ve found. Go hunting, or do something else to calm down. Yang’s in the most capable hands available here, she’ll pull through… she has to. The others are probably exhausted, but it may be best to spend the remaining daylight collecting food, water and other supplies. No way you’re leaving before Yang’s better.**

You go to Weiss to ask her about what she saw, and if she is okay, but she shakes her head when you get closer.

_“Sorry, I’ve got something to do. Ask Pyrrha.”_

…This is definitively weird.

But, having no other choices, you decide to go to Pyrrha. She tells you they’ve seen a tiny river running not too far, some berries and bushes in another direction, some hares, the next rulestone, and, if you manage to climb a bit higher, hot springs. Now that’s cool. You feel like dirt is engraving itself in your skin now. You promise yourself to take a bath later.

**>  Try to occupy yourself! Your sister is going to be fine. Join the scouts and investigate the area; you just need to keep yourself busy until Ren is done stitching everyone up.**

Your entire party is busy right now. Softly, you call out Zwei and start running. Staying at the same place is useless.

By the time you’re back, you’ve caught a couple rabbits and collected some edible leaves and fruits. Ren tells you that Jaune have some broken ribs, but he’ll survive. He also tells you that he did his best for Yang, but she’ll need a lot of luck to survive.

A small chance is better than no chances at all, you guess. You thank him and tell him to take a nap. He seems tired.

**>  investigate the cave! Maybe someone before you left something**

You take a few careful steps inside the cave. Pyrrha and Jaune are sleeping near the entering. This one’s deeper than the previous one. At first, you don’t see anything unusual -rock, rock, and oh look, more rock- but after a few steps you see drawings on the sides. When you reach the end of the cave, you find an old and dusty jacket, a cane, a pair of broken glasses, neatly folded on a large and old brown stain on the floor and under something written on the cavewall in a language you can’t understand, along with a name you know.

_OZPIN_

…You know what happened to the notebook’s owner now.


	88. 084

**>  Take the jacket. You can wear it instead of your cape and just use the cape as back up bandages. Plus, your shirt’s all torn up, so you need SOMETHING to help keep your decency.**

The jacket might be a bit long for you, but it’d be perfect for Blake! You promise yourself to give it to them later.  They need it more than you. Though, you should probably only use your cape for bandages from now. It makes you a bit sad. She’d served you well.

**>  Also, take the cane. It’s more than likely also a sword, and probably a gun, too. Who knows?**

You grab the cane, twisting it around, checking everything inch of it.

It isn’t a gun.

It isn’t a blade.

You’re disappointed.

You still keep it thought. Someone might need it in your group. At worst you could always hit enemies with that.

**>  Confide in Blake your feelings about Weiss. You’re deeply saddened that she would constantly push you away, even when all you want is to make sure that she’s okay. Is it because of what you are? Is her deer side afraid of your wolf? Try to hold back the tears because you have to be a strong leader, but fail.**

You leave the rest behind, careful not to wake up anyone, and join Blake. They’re sat next to Yang’s pale body, knees up their chin and eyes puffy and red. You hadn’t realized before just how much they must care about Yang after travelling with her.

You hold her the jacket, and with a thankful nod she put it on. It fits. That’s good. Decency aside, you don’t want them to catch a cold in the middle of your trip.

_“You manage?”_

They shrug.

_“What about you?”_

For a second, you consider lying. But your team is the only thing you have, and you can’t be dishonest with them.

_“..I don’t. Yang’s hurt. Nora’s hurt. Jaune’s hurt. Weiss’s avoiding me. Most of it is my fault-”_

_“Bullshit.”_

You blink.

_“You have too much pressure on yourself due to yourself. You’re fast. You could have abandoned them. Us. But you didn’t. You fucked up, but not everything is your fault. If we’re alive, it’s because of you. And if whitass have a problem with you, confront her. Nothing will go better by moping. Whether you run or fight, nothing change if you choose nothing.”_

The English is broken and the accent weird, but it still brings faint tears to your eyes. What a leader you are. Look at yourself. So strong. So trustworthy.

You’re glad they pull you into their arms, so they don’t see you crack up and sob.

…

Okay. You’re better now.

The sun finally set. Weiss and Pyrrha are awake, guarding each a different side outside of the cave. Jaune and Nora are cuddling, asleep. Ren is eating.

_What do you do and what do you say to who?_


	89. 085

**> Confront Weiss. Time to square this away. You may have had your differences and quarrels in the past, but she was the first person you met here, the first person you trusted, and… probably the first person you liked.**

**>  Talk to Weiss! You guys need to maintain a good relationship; you’re partners after all.**

**>  Sort things out with Weiss.**

Your legs move by themselves, getting you up, leading you to Weiss. This lasted long enough. You’re going to sort things out here and now.

Your partner tenses lightly when you sit next to her. She makes a move to leave, but you stop her before she can get up.

_“We need to talk.”_

She shifts uncomfortably.

_“I’ve got something to-”_

_“Weiss. You’ve been avoiding me. Don’t try to deny it.”_

She huffs as if it was a ridiculous idea, but you notice how she averts your gaze. You wait for a few seconds for something to say to pop up in your head, but nothing comes. You decide to improvise.

_“Is it something that have I done? Weiss we’re partners you have to talk to me-”_

_“I’m just pissed off okay?!”_

You didn’t expect the outburst. While Weiss does get angry pretty often, she rarely looks and sounds as upset as she is now. She looks like she’s fighting back tears.

_“Look around you! Nora got hurt! Jaune got hurt! Yang got hurt! You got hurt! All of this because I am **too slow** and I wasn’t able to protect **any of you**!”_

You didn’t expect that either. Frankly, you thought she was going to scold you and your poor leader skills, not blame herself. This is concernedly out of character from her.

_“It wasn’t your-”_

_“ **Yes** it was! I’m supposed to be the **best**! Trained **all my life** to be the best! And I can’t even manage to help the rare people I actually **care** about!!”_

Her breath is ragged and her fists clenched. You don’t know if she looks scared, angry, or on the verge of tears. Probably a bit of all three.

After a moment, she lets out a big breath and pulls her knees under her chin, wrapping her arms around herself and looking away.

_“…I don’t want to lose any of you guys okay. You’re my first real friends. I’ve never felt like this with anyone. I’m scared.”_

…You’re not quite sure how to react. Comforting people have never been your forte.


	90. 086

**>  Hug Weiss**

Carefully, you extend an arm and wrap it around her. She doesn’t protest. You think it means you can hug her. So you do.

Her grip is a bit painful and you have to move your head to avoid her antlers as she buries her face in your neck. You feel something wet on your skin. You suppose one can only hold back tears for so long.

And, suddenly, as clear as water, you know what to say. You take a second to organize your thoughts, find the words, the right way to tell her, and talk.

**>  Ask Weiss if it’s alright if you hug her. Explain to her it’s not her fault- none of this is her fault. Assure her that in the future you can and will do better.**

**>  Seems like Weiss needs a hug right now, go give her one (but only if she doesn’t seem too uncomfortable with it). Reassure her that you’re a team, and what happened isnt her fault. You’ll get through this, together. It’ll take a lot of strength, courage and, yes, speed but you have all that and more. There’s still hope, and Weiss -can’t- give up now. Your team needs her, you yourself especially.**

**>  Tell Weiss that you’re sorry, but she did her best and everyone else is doing their best too! It’s not her responsibility to help everyone, but she’s been great so far.**

_“Weiss.”_

_“This isn’t your fault. We all could have done something at some point and missed the right timing to save someone. If you’re to blame, then we all are, and me first.”_

_“We’ll get better with time. We won’t get injured again that easily.”_

_“Beside, it isn’t your responsability to help everyone, and yet you’ve been great so far. If it wasn’t for you, I’d be dead.”_

**> Your pack is injured. Your Weiss is doubting herself. Remind her: Ozpin. Melanie. Mercury. And who knows how many others. They died on their journey up this forsaken rock. Yes, you’ve suffered injuries. Yes, you’ve been scarred more than just physically. And yes. You. Are. All. Still. Alive. Hug her, pinch her, even nip her gently to prove that you are still here and you’re not going to disappear on her. None of you are.**

**>  give Weiss a hug, not with any romantic undertones or anything because first and foremost, before being a potential love interest, Weiss is your friend. And friend’s deserve to be supported when they’re feeling low. Tell her that you’re scared too, that everyone is. Tell her that you don’t know if you’ll all make it out alive because there’s no point in making empty promises. But, tell her that no one will go down without a fight and if anyone dies the only thing at fault is this game.**

_“I won’t lie. I’m not sure if we’re going to make it. You saw the tombstone just like me; God knows how many people died before up trying to go up that damn mountain. I’m scared.”_

_“But we’re alive. All of us. Scarred, yes. And not only physically. But as long as there is life, there is hope. We’re a team. We are not going down without a fight.”_

_“And we will not die on you  soeasily.”_

You pretend you don’t hear her hiccup and rub her back in circles. It takes a moment, but eventually her sobs calm down and you don’t feel anything running down your shoulder anymore.

_“…Thanks Ruby. I needed that, I think.”_

You tell her it’s nothing. She wipes her eyes.

_“… I should probably go to bed now. I think I could actually sleep now.”_

You agree. She gets up, yawns, kisses you on the cheek and walks away. It takes you a few seconds to process what just happened.

…Well. That was a thing.

_What now?_


	91. 087

**> Blankly rub your cheek where Weiss just kissed you as your brain is too overloaded from the sensation of those… soft… beautiful lips.**

You do. You still can’t believe this just happened. Those lips sure were really soft. You wouldn’t mind it happening again.

…

Fuck.

You think you have a crush on your partner.

**>  Check on the others, make sure they’re doing okay, then go to sleep. You need rest to handle whatever’s coming next.**

You shake your head. Whether you do or not, your priority is making sure everyone is okay right now. You’ll think more about your feelings later.

You look around. Ren is awake, and not so far away. You decide to go see him.

_“Hey. You doing okay?”_

He shrugs.

_“No. But I’ll manage.”_

He sounds rather….off.

_“You sure?”_

He shrugs again.

_“I’m just tired. Worried too. Scared for Nora and Pyrrha and Jaune and Nora.”_

Yeah. You can understand that.

_“You seem to really like her.”_

You see the corner of his lips lifting up. This surprise you. You haven’t seem him smile at all since you’ve met him.

_“Old friend. Best friend. They aren’t anything I wouldn’t do for her.”_

You think about Yang. About Weiss. About Nora. About how close you became while you travelled together.

You think you can understand that too.

_“You should go to sleep, Ruby. I’ll nightwatch. Sleep tomorrow.”_

You thank him and leave. You hope he will truly go to sleep later.

Next is Pyrrha. She is okay too, guarding the entry of the cave. You tell her Ren will join her soon. She tells you she’ll probably go for a walk later then. You hope she won’t trip.

Nobody else is awake.

As you go back in the cave, you see Nora and Jaune cuddling, something big, like a blanket, wrapped around both of them. A closer look informs you that this blanket is actually made out of feathers and popping out of Nora’s back.

Well shit. Though, to be fair, you should have expected it. This group got mammals and reptiles already, a bird had to be expected.

You continue. Weiss is curled around Zwei. You decide to not bother them.

Last are the bumblebees. Blake have both of their arms around your sister. They aren’t moving. It’s good. They don’t have any nightmares. Yang isn’t either. This is less good.

Eventually, you find your own corner away from anyone, curl into a ball and close your eyes.

As sleep gets you and drags you into unconsciousness, a last thought crosses your mind.

_God damn it, I can’t believe I fell for a girl I can’t even speak properly with in the middle of a life-threatening situation. Good job, heart, really. This was just the *perfect* moment._

Then thoughts leave you for the entire night.

_What should you do when you wake up?_


	92. 088

**>  Once everyone is up, let’s get a status report and see how everyone is. Yang and Jaune are probably not ready to be moved, you might have to stake a few days here just to be safe. Nora’s wings look pretty, ask if you can pet, or even better yet, help preen. Get butterflies in your stomach when you check up on Weiss. Ask Zwei for relationship advice, since you and him are sorta related by species and you’re in ‘puppy love’.**

Yeah. Sounds good.

You check on your sister first. Surprisingly, you don’t find Blake by her side, but Weiss. She tells you your feline friend went out for a walk. You’re glad they left Yang, if only for a bit. While you understand their worry, you don’t want them to shut down out of sorrow and stop doing anything.

Your sister didn’t move an inch, her chest raising slowly as she breathes.

…There is something wrong with her hands.

You can’t quite put your finger on what’s different, but you know something is. Maybe something with their general shape ..?

Eventually, you shake your head. No need to worry about something harmless you can’t do anything about for now. You need to check on the others first.

Next is Jaune. He is awake. He tells you his side hurts an awfully lot when he breathe, and it’s worst when he moves, but if necessary he should be able to run. Slowly, but still.

Pyrrha and Ren are sleeping back to back. They both have bags under their eyes. You hope they’ll have enough time to rest before he next card.

Nora is the last, humming outside and observing her wings. They sure are really pretty. They kind of remind you of a pigeon.

She seems happy to see you, and gladly let you preen her new limbs. The feathers are really soft between your fingers. She tells you it feels good when you do that. You promise to do it often.

**>  Check on Nora! See how she’s doing… If she can fly.**

She shakes her head.

_“Doubt I can fly. I’m just getting how to move them. Though I’ll train during the next days. It’d be so cool to be able to fly!”_

You really, really like her smile.

**>  Check on Yang. Tend to her injuries, see how they are. Then, check on Jaune’s. Then, take a walk. Clear your head, and decide what to do about the crush: Try to ignore it, or just tell Weiss. Ignoring it could cause distractions to occur in your head, but telling her could cause distractions for her, though if she does care for you in the same way back, this could prove advantageous, and be less likely to be a distraction. Balance these carefully. What do YOU want to do about it?**

You call out for Zwei, warn Nora that you’re going for a walk, and leave. You really need to clear up your head.

Everything’s messed up in your mind: your sister’s state, Nora’s wings, Ren’s lack of sleep, Jaune’s injuries… You decide to focus on the only issue you can actually resolve. Namely, your feelings for your partner. It might be the only time you can think about it without being disturbed, and you need to decide what to do with it quickly before it distract you or lead to someone else getting wounded again.

It sounds easy, though. It’s just about what you want. What do you want?

….Urgh, it’s not easy! You’ve never felt this way before. Ever. You have no idea how to deal with these feelings.

Okay. Okay calm down. Back to the beginning. What you want, right?

It’s easy. You want everyone to be happy. Everyone. And if they manage without you, you’re okay with that.

Though, on a more selfish note, you would be happier if Weiss and Nora decided decided to be with you in a romantic wa-wait what.

Oh.

_Oh._

_Of course_ getting a crush in a place where you could pretty much die at any moment wasn’t enough. You had to get _two_.

Ha. Haha. Ha.

You hate your life.

Urgh. Okay. Back again to the beginning.

Nora. Weiss. Crush. To tell or not to tell?

You think. A lot. You think about Yang’s previous relationships, what happened, what worked out, what didn’t. You think about the (very little) knowledge you got from tv shows and books and whatever. You think about what possible consequences it might bring, and those brought by not saying a thing.

You think, you walk, and you pet Zwei.

About an hour or so later, you finally come to a decision.

You’ll tell them. For the better and the worst.

Well, that was the plan, anyway. But when you come back to the cave, Weiss rushes toward you, grabs your hand -they’re cold- and drags you inside.

_“Yang’s awake!”_

Oh.

_Oh yes._


	93. 089

**> Rush in and check on Yang! She’s probably not well enough for a hug just yet, and you might jostle her wounds. Just kiss her for now, thankful that she survived. Yang’ll be fine… Yang’ll be fine….**

You rush. Yang is, indeed, awake, and looking slightly confused. Ren is helping her to sit up. Jaune and Nora are watching her from afar, unable to move closer to her. Blake and Pyrrha are missing.

Not that you really care, at the moment. You’re sister is here -here! Alive! Breathing! Not dead!- and you feel like it’s Christmas already.

You stop yourself at the last second from hugging her and instead kiss her forehead, grabbing her hand.

**>  Crushes can wait, Yang is awake! Be careful, ask how she is, look at her hands a bit more. Oh, and be ready for grief. Yang is probably mute now, so you’ll never hear your sister’s voice again. Try not to dwell on that too much. Also, think on how you can set the mood for your confessions. Maybe a field of white roses, at night, under the stars? That sounds nice. Good luck, Ruby!**

You feel her hand in your’s. It’s definitively weird. The palm is too large, the fingers too short, too thick, the nails too sharp. However, you’re cut in your observations by Yang.

She ruffles your hair, smiling at you weakly. You smile back, eyes watering slightly. She opens her mouth. No sounds leave her throat.

Your smile falters.

Her eyes widen. Slowly, she raises a hand to her throat. She gives you a distressed look you can’t bare looking at. You avert your gaze.

A pair of strong and hairy arms wrap themselves around you as your sister’s face disappear between your shoulder and her hair. A couple thin hand -Ren’s, you guess- land on your backs, rubbing in small circles.

This time, only a few tears make their way down your cheeks. You’ve cried enough.

…

Yang’s calmed down, somewhat. You hear footsteps behind you. You don’t need to be a genius to understand they belong to your two missing teammates.

_What do you do and say?_


	94. 090

**>  Step back and show them that Yang is awake. Allow celebrations to unfold.**

You do. Blake rushes and drops next to your sister, talking really fast in what you assume is their native language. Pyrrha is slower, but still sit next to Yang, asking Ren questions about her state.

You should probably tell them.

**>  Explain the situation to the others. Yang can’t talk, and she might not again. Realize the severity of the situation. Cry.**

_“Guys…”_

Your voice breaks. That’s probably what alarm them. You designate her throat.

_“Mute.”_

If ‘oh’ was a feeling then their faces expressed it wonderfully at the moment.

But you don’t cry. You’ve cried enough. You aren’t a wet towel, for goat’s sake!

**> So, realize that you’ll never hear your sister’s voice again. Then realize, SHE’S ALIVE. That’s something that can be measured by miles. She’ll need help with the transition (And consider the irony of her being rendered mute by someone who was also mute, metagaming knowledge yo), of course, but that’s what sign language is for. And sticks. Get her a stick so that she can write stuff out for now. It’ll be difficult, yes, but not impossible. And a silent sister is better than a dead one.**

…

You need to go out for a bit. Grab a stick and all.

You tell them. If they know this isn’t entirely true, they don’t say a thing. You’re grateful for that.

**> Take a look outside, and guess/estimate/guestimate how many more cards you’ll have to endure before reaching the top.  
**

You leave the cave and your team alone. On your way, you look up to the peak.

It looks close. You think that in about five or six more cards you’ll reach the top.

You hope nobody will die because of them.

**>  You are RUBY ROSE and you are going to handle your ANGSTY EMOTIONS through INTENSE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY and SMOOCHING NORA/WEISS**

Now would be kind of an inappropriate moment for smooching, don’t you think? On the other hand, you’re all for the intense physical activity part.

You run again.

When you come back, holding a stick and panting, you’re definitively feeling better. Your teammates are handing Yang water and food.

You give her the stick. She seems to have a hard time taking it -blame her fingers and tiny thumb. Whatever is happening to her hands, you hope it won’t go worse- but after a moment manage to write shaky letters in the dust by holding it with both hands.

Time for the chit-chat.


	95. 091

**> You are now YANG XIO LONG. You are a STRONG FIGHTER and have very recently been rendered MUTE. Your HANDS are CHANGING shape very rapidly. Your sister RUBY ROSE wants to have a LITTLE CHAT. Proceed to WRITE IN THE DIRT.**

Unfortunately, you are not. You are RUBY ROSE.

Though, your sister does want a little chat. Letters are forming in the dirt, slowly but surely.

                   H o w  l o n g   h a v e  I  b e e n  a s l e e p

_“A day. You… Lost a lot of blood. It was really bad.”_

And it still is, you think.

                   W h o  e l s e  h a v e  b e e n  h u r t

_“Jaune got broken ribs. But that’s it. You got the worst.”_

She turns to look at the other blonde, who waves weakly.

_“I’m okay!”_

                 W h a t  i s  h a p p e n i n g  t o  m y  h a n d s

_“I don’t know. I think you’re getting… you know. Like us.”_

You flip your ears for emphasis. She gets it.

                  W h a t  h a p p e n e d  w h i l e  I  w a s ?

_“Found a cave. Going to rest here for a long while. Nora got wings. Hummm….”_

You look at the rest of your team. They all shrug. You suppose you didn’t forget anything important.

Your sister attempts to get up, but falls back on her butt with a grimace.

                    H e l p ?

_“You really want to leave?”_

She nods.

                   N e e d  t o  t h i n k

You nod. You understand. You’re probably going to ask someone to join her though. You don’t want her to get hurt.

_Is there anything else you want to tell her before she leaves? Who do you assign as her bodyguard? Well, in short, as always: what do you do?_


	96. 092

**>  Tell her you’re sorry. It wasn’t your fault, of of course, but the human mind is not a rational thing (You ARE still human, right?). You’re sorry, if you hadn’t been so focused on the *stairs*… But no, try not to get hung up on that. For now, assign Blake as a bodyguard. Those two are rather close, and the time alone together might help them. And, of course, you should wait a few days. Both so that you all can recover, and so that you can confess to Weiss and Nora. Good luck with that**

_“I’m sorry, Yang.”_

She takes your hand and squeezes it. You smile weakly at her.

….You should move on.

**>  Contemplate sending Zwei, since Yang may want some alone time. Think better of it because if an emergency occurs, you don’t know if he would be able to help all that much, but know that he will try his absolute best. Send Blake instead. Those two are already partners and met each other first in this world. They had to trust each other then, they’ll trust each other now.**

You think Zwei would be a great bodyguard, but then it crosses your mind that in case of troubles he’ll probably won’t be able to do much, even if he’d try. You decide to send him and Blake with her. She pouts a bit, but she seems to accept your choice.

A last hug, and they’re all gone.

**>  Have Blake keep an eye on Yang. In the meantime, make the rounds- have conversations with everyone else. Check in on them, assess their mental states. Make sure they’re all okay.**

You do.

Jaune is okay. He asks you some help to move further in the cave, then starts drawing on the wall with some coal. It looks like he’s drawing your stories.

You hope if someone else find those caves, they’ll be warned about what could happen next.

Pyrrha is okay. She tells you that since you’ll all probably stay here longer than in the previous stops, she’ll look for leaves or stuff to make it comfortable. Have better beds and all. You tell her to be careful, and she leaves in the opposite direction of Yang’s.

Ren and Nora are okay. The tiny girl is on your noodley teammate’s shoulders, wings stretching. They tell you they’ll practice flying. Maybe look for those hot springs Pyrrha told you about, too.

Weiss is… well. She could be worse. She asks you to train with her. Improve the teamwork and all. You agree.

You fight together for a couple hours. Pyrrha comes back and leaves, bringing various stuff she organize inside. You hear her talking to Jaune at some point, but you’re too busy dodging Weiss’s rapier to know what they’re saying. It’s probably just bonding, anyway. And it’s rude to listen to others’ conversations.

When you’re done, you’re sweaty, breathless, but a bit stronger, you think.

Your ear flickers as you hear something getting closer. You turn your head, seeing your sister and her bodyguards coming back, and you freeze.

Her arms…

Oh.


	97. 093

**>  gasp in shock and then tell us WHAT ARE THEY YOU TROLLING PERSON?**

Well they are….

Thick.

Really thick.

Furry, too.

And clawed.

They look a bit like bear paws, you see? Except one of the finger is a bit twisted on the side. It looks like a thumb.

**> Ask for a bear hug from Yang. She’ll appreciate the joke and know that you want to make her smile again.**

**>  Ignore the arms, give Yang a hug. A BEAR hug. Then, panic about the arms. Make sure Yang’s okay and, while you’re at it, check if anyone else has any more animal bits.**

_“Could I have a **bear** hug?”_

It makes her smile. Good. Mission accomplished.

At least her hugs are still the same.

_“Hey, are you okay?”_

She nods. You ask the same question to Blake. They give you the same answer.

You hope it’ll stay this way for long.

**>  ask if anything eventful happened while Yang was exploring.**

_“Did anything happen?”_

They both look thoughtful for a second, then Yang makes a weird symbol with her hands. Blake seems to understand.

_“Flowers. On tombstones.”_

….Whoa. That’s new.

**> Status update! See how everyone’s doing.**

You excuse yourself a second to check on everyone quickly. Yang’s arms reminded you that everyone could go more beastly at any moments.

However, it turns out that everyone is, well…. Not necessary ‘fine’, but not too bad, at least. Plus, you have the pleasant surprise to see just how much Pyrrha changed the cave to make it more comfortable. Now, the ground is covered of leaves, and softer ones are placed near the walls. You’re eager to sleep on that tonight.

The walls are also now half-covered in drawings. While most of them tell your team’s story, a few of them just seem to be here to decorate. The art style is a bit different from times to times, too. You think Pyrrha did those, judging by her hands.

When you come back to Yang, she observing her hands… paws? With curiosity. A bit a sadness, too. Blake is a bit further, drinking.

Weiss is with your sister.

You look at them from away, not wanting to disturb them. Your partner seems to be talking, but you can’t hear her. After a moment, Yang raise a blonde fist to fistbump with her. To be honest, you’re kind of impressed she managed to get the german girl to do that. You’re glad Weiss is warming up. And you’re glad Yang is smiling -a true smile- by the time the other stops talking.

Then Yang wrinkles her nose and rub it with her paw, and Weiss suddenly looks extremely offended. You’re not sure why.

You bring your arm to your nose and sniff.

…Okay, _now_ you see why.

You should take a bath soon.


	98. 094

**>  Once everybody gets back, suggest a nice, long trip to those hot springs mentioned earlier. There were hot springs somewhere around here, right? Everyone’s probably really stinky and dirty and we don’t want any infections happening, and baths always help calm people down! Be cautious on your way there though, something might attack you on your way, like an animal or something.**

No need to wait, the renora are already on sight. And cleaner than the last time you’ve seen them.

**>  Check if Ren and Nora has found anything. A hot-spring would be nice, though awfully convenient. Warm water would also help your aching muscles. Just be careful not to get caught staring at Weiss and Nora… who am I kidding? You’d get caught anyways.**

_“So, I guess you’ve found your springs?”_

Shh you are not staring you’re staring-wait.

_“Yep!”_

Nora giggles and Jesus it’s so good to hear her giggling again.

_“I practised flying too. Can’t do it yet, but I can move them however I want now!”_

For emphasis, she wiggles her wings a bit. You’re happy for her.

You keep talking for a moment, then waves at her and leave. You’ve got work to do. And by work you mean bath.

**>  Bath times! Have everyone alternate for maximum efficiency, then take the opportunity to confess to both of your crushes. Alternately, just kiss them both and see what happens.**

_“Hey guys! Did you hear that? There are hot springs up there!”_

They nod. They did.

_“Who wants to go first?”  
_

You do. And you say it.

Nobody seems to mind.

_“Sweet! You come with me Weiss?”_

She makes a weird face.

_“Aren’t you a boy?”_

_“Nah.”_

It’s silent for a few seconds, and you’re slightly worried by Yang’s face, but she eventually shrugs.

_“Okay.”_

Good.

You say goodbye to your crew and leave.

The path isn’t really long, but very thin, and you have to be careful all the way. And climbing up to the springs wasn’t super easy either.

But hell, it was worth it. The hot water does miracles to your muscles. And you get rid of like, an inches of dust and mud on your skin. Even your partner can’t help but sigh in contentment.

When you leave, you’re refreshed, clean, and Weiss’s humming all the way to the camp. Life is good.

So good you can’t help but peck your teammate’s lips a bit before the cave is on sight.

The humming stop, and so does Weiss.

….Oops?


	99. 095

**>  Panic. Run. Kiss Nora. Cower behind Yang and wait for them to come after you**

You would, if your legs weren’t getting oddly similar to jelly as you fully realized what you had just done.

The panic part was fulfilled, though.

**> Wait for Weiss to react and apologize if she seems mad. If she doesn’t explain your feelings ( for Weiss AND for Nora) as best you can and hope for the best.**

There is a minute in which nobody talk. You stare at your shoes with a newly discovered interest, as your partner mindlessly graze her lips with her fingers. And then she snaps.

_“Why did you do that?!”_

You try not to show just how much you’re freaking out right now. Efforts probably _slightly_ ruined by your whole body vibrating like a chainsaw. Curse your speed power.

_“I’m-sorry-I-didn’t-mean-to-I-was-just-really-happy-and-you-were-so-pretty-and-”_

You’re stopped by a pair of thin hands clasping against your cheeks, trapping your head in them.

_“Ruby.”_

You swallow nervously.

_“Do you, like… Like me? As in, like like me?”_

She seems nervous. You are too. This isn’t comforting in the lightest.

_“…..Yes?”_

There is a pause.

_“I thought you liked Nora.”_

_“I can like more than one person at once.”_

For a second, you’re scared you’ve said the wrong thing. And then she smiles, and your heart flickers.

_“..I do too.”_

When she kisses you, it’s for longer than a peck.


	100. 096

**> *VIBRATING INTENSIFIES***

Oh it does. You have no idea how much.

It makes Weiss giggles. You like that sound.

You hope you’ll get to hear it more often.

When your lips finally part, your grin makes up half of your face.

**> Success! Now, run around Weiss happily, drag her with you back to camp and announce the good news! (also maybe kiss Nora while you’re at it)**

You make the rest of the way back holding hands and smiling. You don’t run, though, because you’re fairly positive that you’ll end up zapping and dragging Weiss behind without having any time to enjoy the thin hand n your’s (not to mention that your girlfriend would be mad at you)

_“We’re done, you can go now if you want.”_

Yang gets up, stretching. Blake prepare themselve to follow her.

_“Oh, by the way, Me and Weiss are dating now.”_

The look on surprise on Yang’s face says it all.

_“I’m sure ‘tact’ is a thing you could used.”_

_“Yeah, but it’s funnier this way.”_

When Yang finally comes back to her sense, she smiles at you and claps her enormous paws. Then she glares at the german girl and make her typical “we’ll need to talk” look.

You suddenly feel a bit sorry in advance for your partner when your sister will be back from her bath.

You both enter the cave; Jaune and Pyrrha have moved from the cave walls and are now lighting a small fire, making sure it doesn’t grow too big and the smoke goes outside. Nora is laying on her stomach, across Ren’s laps, who’s apparently trying to fix his partner’s music box.

_What do you do?_


	101. 097

**> Nora seems a bit busy. And Jaune and Pyrrha are busy as well. And Yang and Blake are going to the hotsprings. So, there’s only one thing to do: Disco dancing. Do a funky fresh groove with Weiss, make sure y'all have appropriate 1970s stereotypical Disco clothes and a beatbox. If you don’t have those, disco dance with Weiss without them and substitute the music with your own voice. Also, thank Nonji for his excellent tech support advice. In goat. WHITE ROSE FOR LIFE.**

Weiss lets out a yelp of surprise when you suddenly grabs her other hand and starts dancing, but while she frowns at you, you don’t hear her complain. You may not have special clothes nor any beatboxes, but the music still plays in your head as your feet pound against the ground and your whole body spin. Weiss starting to sing at the same time may help a bit, though.

It doesn’t last long, and eventually you both fall, breathless, smiling, but for a short while, you feel free.

**> ask weiss her opinion on nora. if weiss is okay with it, become awesome poly girlfriends**

_“Hey, what do you think about Nora?_ " You whisper.

 _"She’s awesome and I want to date her.”_ She answers.

_“…Poly girlfriends?”_

_“Poly girlfriends.”_

You fistbump and get up. You take a step toward the cave, but a huge blonde furry paw clasps against your girlfriend’s shoulder….Oops. You hadn’t noticed they were back.

You silently wish good luck to Weiss and absconds toward the renoras. The big sister talk is something she’ll have to endure alone. Sorry, Weiss. No hard feelings.

_“Is she going to do that to everyone who dates you?”_

Ren hands the music box to Nora, who giggles. You didn’t expect him to be the first one to talk, in all honesty.

_“Wouldn’t surprise me.”_

Yang is doing large hand movements, her brows knit together. Weiss have her arms crossed, looking unimpressed.

_“Your sister can be kind of scary.”_

This time, it was Nora who talked.

_“Eh, you’ve never seen her when she’s ang-”_

_“You’re worth it though.”_

…..That girl will never stop surprising you it seems.

Next to you, Ren rolls his eyes so hard you wonder if he’d seen the back of his skull in the process.

_“Just kiss already, jee.”_

The winged redhead is happy to oblige, and you are not one to complain.

When you two eventually break apart, you’re both grinning so hard you wonder if it’s possible to smile wider.

The sight of Weiss grabbing your sister by her collar to pull her into a kiss answers you. Yes, it is.


	102. 098

**>  Time for a group hug!!**

_“Group hug!”_

You all run to Jaune, since he really shouldn’t move for now, and hug. It feels nice. You like it.

You’d like it better if Blake joined though.

“ _Blake?”_

_“I’m pout.”_

_“…Why?”_

_“Everyone had a kiss. Not me.”_

Oh.

Well you’re more than happy to fix that.

(Weiss and Yang too it seems)

(And you are not laughing at Jaune’s face nope not at all.)

**>  Remember home. Remember the good times and the bad. When everyone is sitting around the campfire, tell stories of home. Let everyone tell their own stories of what was before. Laugh, cry, remember what you’re fighting for. When everyone else has gone to bed, look up at the stars. Try to see if you see any familiar constellations. Or is the sky new to you? Are the stars different, are they beautiful? Have you looked up at the sky, seen the stars, since you’d gotten here? Remember home.**

The rest of the day pass rather eventlessly, as always, but you manage to convince the others to eat all together for once. You don’t regret it.

_“Hey, guys, do you remember home?”_

You forgot who was the who asked that. Not Yang, that’s your only clue. Talk about a clue. But, in all honesty, it doesn’t matter. Not anymore.

_“I’ve got a really big family, you know. Seven sisters. All athletes. And me. A noodle. But now that I think about it, they were…really nice. I want to see them again. Dance a bit. Share clothes. Learn how to kick my bullies’ asses on the football field.”_

_“I never had true friends before. Just my sister. I hope she’s alright. Her pancakes are just the greatest, you know? The only time they weren’t good was the time we ended up food fighting with the Maple syrup and they ended too sugary.”_

_“Yeah, we know each others since a hell of a long time. We met via that one mmo, you know, warcraft? She was one of the most effective tank I’ve ever seen. I stalked her for like, a months so the enemies would attack her and I’d throw a fireball at them.”_

_“There was that big tree, next to my house. Cats always climbed up it. I did too, when I wanted peace to read or think. Nobody ever found me there! Well, except Adam. He was my friend. Though we had an argument before I.. slided. I hope he didn’t do anything stupid to find me.”_

And it goes on, and on, everyone talking about anything and everything without any orders, how there are 5 years-old Pyrrha’s drawing on the front door, how Bumbleby was the best bike, how there used to have that ridiculous pant law in Paris literally everybody ignored and how sloth was a joke just like goats. Everyone talks, and you laugh, and you cry, and for once, when you looked up that damned mountain, even if the top still looked at a good distance, you thought that yes, it's worth it. Your dad, your house, your friends’ families- it's all worth all that fighting, every bloodrop, every sweetdrop.

That feeling doesn’t leave you even way after the others had gone sleeping and you are left alone, watching the stars, wondering if they were the same as your world’s, and deciding that it doesn’t matter if you never made it there to be sure. It doesn’t leave when you fall asleep, nor in the days that followed.

You know that feeling.

It's hope.

The following week pass in a blur -training, healing, hunting, getting scared when Nora jumped of the cliff to see if she’d mastered flying (yes, but there are safer ways to be sure)- By the time you are all standing in front of the next rule stone, you are all tougher, faster, and, in Jaune’s case, more or less healed. He could manage, anyway.

Also, you have a tail. God bless skirts.

_“Okay, guys, ready?”_

They all nod, and your palm meets the cold rock.

_Beware the ground on which you stand_

_The floor us quicker than the sand._

Under your feet, you feel the earth melting.

…Well. Sounds like an easy one for once.


	103. 099

**>  Look around for stairs! You don’t need to fight quicksand… hopefully.**

You quickly scan the area around you, but Jaune is the first one to find the stairs.

_“Over there!”_

Yep. Same good ol’ glowing blue stairs. It’s starting to become old. You wonder if they ever change at some point.

Breh. You’ll find out soon enough.

**>  Ren and Nora are going to need help. The two of them are too much weight on one spot. Have someone help him carry Nora. Move fast so you don’t sink. Speed works in your favour.**

You turn around to check on the renoras, possibly to ask Pyrrha to help them… And stay speechless.

Guess you were worrying for nothing, judging by Ren’s free shoulders and Nora a bit above him. Granted, she seems to have some troubles, but it’ll be good enough to take you all out of here.

**> Okay team! RUN!!!**

You scream just that.

You’re the first one to set a foot on the steps, thanks to your zapping - it managed to take you there with a minimum of contacts on the ground.

Second is Nora, who lands ungracefully next to you. Landing must be difficult when you don’t have feet. You understand now why she always landed on Ren’s shoulders during training.

Third is Weiss, with her rune-thingies, soon followed by Pyrrha, who… you’re not sure what she did actually. There was a sound, Nora raised her hammer and she flew here. Maybe it was her weird metal power? ..you’ll try not to think about it.

Next, in order, came Ren (surprisingly fast when he’s not holding anything at the same time) Blake (who, even with lot of clones, was slowed down) Yang (who’s knee-deep when she reaches the stairs and you helps her getting out) and finally Jaune (who’s down to the waist in the ground but again, a bit of help and he was out.)

When you reach the top of the stairs, you can’t help but check for traps first. But nope. It was really it. Just an easy card for once.

You have conflicted feelings about it. But hey. Nobody was hurt and with a bit of rest you’ll all be fully functional again.

You hope it’s because you’re getting better and not because the game decided to be nice before crushing you.


	104. 100

**>  Wait… where’s Zwei?! He’s not still trapped in the quicksand is he?!**

You panic for a second.

_“Zwei? Zwei?!”_

A quiet bark answer you, and you look down.

….He is here. Next to your leg.

Good dog. Best friend. Though, you’re starting to wonder if this dog is really normal too.

You guess everything changes a bit with time in this world.

**>  Eyes open, ears listening, keep ready for any other traps, move slowly forward. That was too easy. Easy typically means that someone wants you to relax so that you’re not ready for the next blow.**

Your ears flickers, and you go slow. Behind you, your teammates do the same. You tiptoe, ready to jump at the first trap, eyes rolling to scan the area…. But nothing happens.

You’re not the only one surprised, to be honest. But who knows, maybe luck was by your side.

(personally you think that the next card will be twice as hard and this one was just easy to give you all confidence but hey, that’s your opinion.)

**>  okay I can’t believe we haven’t done this yet. Exchange email addresses. Phone numbers. Any means of contact. Do your best to memorize it. Hope to contact each other once this is all over.**

Your comrades are already starting to rummage through the supplies to drink a bit when you raise a hand and gather attention.

_“Guys. I just thought of something.”_

You disregard phone numbers immediately -most of you don’t live in the same country, it’d be too hard- but you exchange e-mails and full name as you can -aka by writing them with charcoal on your limbs and try to memorize them. You hope, almost as much as you hope to make it out alive, that it’ll be enough.

**>  Take a moment to catch your breath and make sure that everyone is okay. If they are, you should draw another card.**

You take the next couple hours to rest -take a quick nap, drink a lot to ease your slight headache, pet Zwei, get petted. Though, since you’re all as okay as you can be when you’re climbing up a mountain following weird rules and avoiding to get killed at every steps, your group agree to draw the next card the same day. You take a big breath, a step forward, and, after making sure that everyone is ready, finally touch the stone.

                        _A huntress from the darkest wild_

_Makes you feel just like a child_

Uh.

This can’t be good.

You don’t like that.

At all.

You hear a ruffling and quickly turns toward the noise, drawing your weapon. Weiss quickly places herself next you, doing the same, and the others step back, already looking for the stairs, like the initial plan ordered them to- when nothing unexpected comes into play, of course.

A person steps in front of you, dark-haired, sword drawn, face hidden behind a mask. Your muscles tense, your teeth grit- you’re ready. Nobody will get hurt this time. You’ll protect them. You’re _ready_.

The voice coming out of the mask proves you the opposite.

It isn’t the voice itself that surprises you, no- it was just a normal,  if somehow oddly familiar, voice.

It's the tone. A surprised one. A tone that is not faked, judging by the stranger’s sword slipping out of their fingers and hitting the ground, leaving them defenseless against you.

And what they say too, probably.

_“Summer?”_


	105. 101

**>  Does the name ring a bell, Ruby? Don’t let your guard down, but don’t attack just yet. Clarify that your name is Ruby, and state your relation to Summer. Keep an eye on her sword hand. If she tries anything, try to run. Subtly encourage your team to back away to the stairs, though stand your ground. Time for information gathering. Good luck, Ruby. Pray to Nian for protection.**

If it rings a bell?

Of course it does. You may have been too young to remember her, but this is not a name easy to forget -not with Yang’s stories and your father’s mourning.

It’s your mother’s name.

After a few seconds of silence, you finally manage to get out of your surprise and say something.

_“I am not Summer. I am Ruby. Summer’s daughter.”_

You can’t see the stranger’s facial expression, but at the very least they aren’t trying pick up their sword. That’s a good thing.

_“…Oh.”_

That’s all they say.

You wave your tail, hoping the others get the “get the fuck out of here” message. You don’t dare looking back, as to avoid attention. The only thing you know is that Weiss is still by your side, and probably won’t leave without you.

…You’re not sure what you should do to be honest.

**>  Keep your guard up. Question who they are and if they are friend or foe. Keep an eye on Yang. Just… something tells you you should.**

_“Who are you? How do you know my mother? Are you a friend or an enemy?”_

The questions suddenly flow out of your mouth as easily as water. Despite your earlier thoughts, you dare glancing behind you -just for a second. You don’t know why, you just know that you should.

The others, while not so far away, had taken more than a few steps back. Enough to not get caught if they have to run, but still close enough to help you if you need it. You’d hoped they’d have followed your orders.

Well, the others.. All the others. Except Yang. She seems frozen, staring -glaring?- at the stranger. You’ll really have to keep an eye on her.

_“…My name is Raven. I am… used to be, I guess, your mother’s friend.”_

To your surprise, they sit down, cross-legged.

_“I am supposed to be your foe, but I won’t hurt you. So what about this? Let’s trade information. You can ask me whatever you want, if I can provide an answer, I will. And you answer mines. What do you say?”_

This sounds awfully tempting.


	106. 102

**>  Might as well. Information is a valuable commodity that you are sorely lacking. You should take turns asking and answering so that one side doesn’t get the advantage. Start by asking for her name, since it’s only fair that you told her yours.**

**>  Sit down, for now. If they aren’t leaving, Yang and Weiss can be bodyguards, able to hold her off long enough so that you can get up and you can all run. First, ask how she knows your mother. (Be half tempted to ask her if she worships Nian Goat, our Holy Goat Lord and Savior)**

You sit down in front of them, and Weiss and Yang does the same. Yang quickly point at the top of the stairs, where you can see the rest of the group. Guess you’ll have to summarize them what you’ve learned later then.

_“Howabout we take turns?”_

_“Sounds alright to me.”_

You don’t wait for her to go first to ask the question burning on your lips.

_“Raven, right? How do you know my mother?”_

They shrug.

_“She was a friend of a friend in high school. I didn’t meet her until college, but she was… really nice. She became one of my best friend afterward.”_

_“How is she?”_

You grimace. Yang looks away. Weiss looks confused.

_“..She passed away ten years ago.”_

You can’t see their face, but you can still tell that the news shook her up. Something with the tension in their shoulders, you think. Weiss pats your head. You mutter a thank.

You decide to give them a minute before asking anymore question

**>  Ask her if she worships Nian Goat, our Lord Goat and Savior, who died by giant ass snake for our salvation, not necessarily our sins, so that we may leave this blasted hellhole. If she says she doesn’t, start reading the Book of Holy Nian to her, and praise the glory of Nian goat. Sing to her the psalms of Holy Nian (“Baaaaaaaa baaaaa baaaaaaaa baaaaaaa”) and pray for the glory of Nian Goat to shine down upon her, and get her out of this hellhole, even if she doesn’t believe. Praise Nian!**

“Do you workship Nian Goat?”

You slam your hands against your mouth before the first baa leaves your throat. You can’t believe you did that. Why did you do this? This was utterly stupid.

**[099]: Hiiiiiii, Nonji tech control here, I just wanna let you know that I *may* or *may not* have caused you to do something that could very possibly get you killed by this Raven person. So, you know, no pressure, but be ready to run because I’m pretty sure they could take your head off like your neck was made of string with the amount of effort she’d have to put into it. I’m also pretty sure they could outrun you while making you look like a turtle. So, you know, fingers crossed! Good luck!**

Your whole body tenses, ready to run. But nothing comes, no attacks, not even insults. The ones around you just awkwardly cast glances at each others, having absolutely no idea what to answer to that.

_“Are.. You okay? Did you, like, hit your head or something?”_

_“I’m okay. I just.. I don’t know. Maybe I ate something wrong.”_

Weak excuse, but you hope they don’t push. You should probably ask another question to change the conversation. That, and to actually taking advantage of the opportunity, you guess.

_If you have any questions, now is the right time to ask them. Go ahead._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The closer to the tip of the mountain, the stronger the reader's influence over Ruby.


	107. 103

**> ask why is she supposed to be our foe?**

They fidget uncomfortably, seemingly struggling to find the right words, before speaking up.

_“I’m a pawn in the game. You are players. I should stop you, according to the rules.That makes me your foe.”_

_“Now tell me about you. From when you slided here to now.”_

**>  A milestone has been reached, a significance in numbers, a symbol both to your survival and the author’s skill and tenacity. Take a moment to regain yourself, and recall all that has happened, the good and the bad, the joys and the pains, since you’ve gotten here. Remember your fear when you first encountered the monsters, your relief at finding others alive, your tears when Yang lost her voice, and, the love you felt for those who travel with you. You’ve passed a milestone. You’ll win.**

You take a big breath, take a moment to think, and let the storytelling start.

You’re thankful Weiss stayed with you, because she can take over when you start choking on the fear building up in your throat, or when your barely held-back tears turn your constructed sentences into disjointed rambling.

Yang, on her behalf, can’t add her voice to the story, but her padded paws are oddly comforting.

You briefly wonder how fucked up you’ve became to find comfort in _bears paws_. But, quickly enough, you shrug it off. What matters is that you’re still _alive_ to find comfort, not how you do.

You’ve made it this far. You’re going to survive. You’re going to _win_.

**>  Ask Raven how she ended up in the game, and how long she’s been there - she must have been her for a while if she didn’t know Summer died.**

Another question that seems to make them uncomfortable, but they answer anyway.

_“I don’t know. I mean- I know I ended up here. You remember the rules at the beginning of the game? They warn you not to be the last member of your team.”_

_“Well. It happened to me.”_

_“If you’re teamless, you become a pawn in the game. You can’t die, but you aren’t really alive either- something in between. Sometimes, around the last levels, your card can be drawn- and you have to fight players. The longer you stay here, the more violent and the less control over your strength you have- until you hit rock bottom and become a Grimm. One of the big boney monster you’ve probably seen outside the game.”_

This

Is horrifying.

The simple thought of someone, a living person, with a past, a future, a family, being stuck slowly becoming a monster, losing their thoughts and dreams and emotions, after seeing their teammates getting killed- is sickening.

Of course, this rises more questions- and there's always the possibility that Raven was lying. But, for now, you need a a second. You feel ill.

…There. You can ask more questions now.

**>  Do you know of Qrow or Taiyang? (Assuming that they were also close to Summer)**

_“Yes! Qrow’s my brother. Taiyang’s my husband. Are they okay?”_

That.. was unexpected.

You see Yang’s facial expression twitch next to you, and you put your hand on her huge paw to calm her down. You’re not quite sure what it means.

_“Qrow’s okay. Dad.. he’s better, let’s say.”_

Raven’s shoulders raise up slightly.

_“Dad? You’re Tai’s daughter?”_

_“Yeah! Yang too, though we don’t share the same mother.”_

For a second, you’re scared your answer broke them. They freeze, eyes wide behind mask, and you’re afraid they’re going to attack you. Then you catch a glimpse of Yang, and you’re afraid she’s going to attack.

_“Before I slided… I had a daughter.”_

_“Her name was Yang Xiao Long”_

Oh.

You should probably do something before any of them do something stupid first.


	108. 104

**>  Cue the dramatic swell of music and slow-motion reunion hug…. now!**

There is something oddly heartwarming in seeing these persons tentatively reaching out for each others, grazing each others hand, before falling into each others arms.

You’re far from out of this hell, but for now, you’re happy.

**>  Hug Yang. She needs it. Beckon Weiss to as well if she isn’t already (besides, she’ll be part of the family soon enough).**

You would, but you don’t think you have the right to intervene right now. This is between Yang and her mother, you don’t belong here.

You decide to cuddle Weiss in the meantime.

**> Oh, dear. Okay, maybe we should get Yang a stick. Also, y'all should probably chat at length about this before moving on. Okay, so, try to let them chat for a bit first, Yang probably has a lot of questions, also try to keep them from murdering each other, and also start considering questions of what she was doing or how she was doing it or anything else that relates to your motley group because Yang’s mother, Yang, and you all being brought here out of 6 billion is too close for chance.**

You use your speed to find a stick as quickly as possible and give it to Yang. She wipes the corner of her eyes, nod a thank, and starts writing.

You decide to go a bit further with Weiss.

_“Sooo… What do you think?”_

_“Interesting answers, but something’s fishy. They’re hiding something from us.”_

 

Well. She's not wrong.

_“She said the game would make her attack us. But I mean, nothing stop her from not doing it, right?” How is that an obligation?"_

_“I know right? It’s just… I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense.”_

You agree.

You keep chatting for a bit, until familiar furry paws wave at you from afar, and you join your sister again. She seems much calmer now. I’s good. Raven had removed their mask, too. They looks a lot like your uncle.

_“If you don’t have any other questions, you should keep going.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember when we thought Raven was a good parent


	109. 105

**>  One question… even if someone is the last member of their group, nothing is stopping them from forming/joining another group is there? Everyone so far is hostile, but at least think about the possibility of adding Raven to the group. You can get a nice round even number, since Zwei has been partnerless this whole time.**

They shake their head.

_“It’d be too easy. You can’t join a group just like that. Well. Yeah, you can, but if you ever reach the peak, you won’t be able to leave anyway. Your team will go without you.”_

There is an unnoticeable pause before they continue.

_“Though, nothing stops me from helping you, I guess. Even if I’m still stuck here in the end, I’m okay with that, if it means you get to go.”_

That’s nice, you guess.

**>  “Why do you all attack the players coming through here?” This is an important question, Ms. Rose. They’ve been keeping this from us for a reason. Ensure they answer it.**

They freeze. Just like they had when they had heard Yang’s name, but not out or surprise or hope. Out of fear.

For a long time, nobody talk, as they frantically look around, probably looking for an excuse not to answer. But you are not letting go. They are going to answer. They have no choices.

And, eventually, they do.

_“There’s… there’s a way, for us, to get out. Just one. Becoming part of a new team.”_

_“But you said-”_

_“I know what I said. That’s the trick. To become part of a new team, you have to replace a dead teammate. And if you manage to kill one yourself, you automatically take their place with or without the team leader’s blessing.”_

_“This is why. I’m trying to go home. I’m trying to live.”_

After that, they fall quiet.

You feel sick.


	110. 106

**> Ruby, I ask you to consider this: Those who you fought before, would you have let them come with you if they had managed to kill one of you? Would you have accepted them, trusted them? Well, I ask you this: What if they’re just going along with it? They has nothing to lose. Their best bet is to wait. Wait until you’re at the top of the mountain, and then, when you’re about to leave, kill one of you and take their place. Then they can leave as well, and there won’t be anything you can do.**

You ponder. Of course, you wouldn’t have taken any of the previous fighters with you. But what about them? They have nothing to lose. But, on the other hand, they genuinely looks like they want to help.

…Life was easier when you only had to deal with monsters.

**> But you wouldn’t kill one of us to join our team would you?**

_“Would you trust my answer? Whether or not I would, I’d give you the same answer anyway.”_

…Point.

**>  Let’s accept her help for now, she’s been forthright with us so far, else she could have just lied, go with us and kill off one of us at the last moment. See if Yang has any objections?**

_“Yang?”_

Your sister frowns, seemingly thinking, then shakes her head. She’s against it. You would have guessed.

She is not the kind of person to value the life of someone she’d barely known to someone she’d protected all her life, after all.

**>  Deep breath. For now, they’re on your side. For now, get up. Accept her offer of help. Maybe you can find out about the other “pieces” while they’re with you. Don’t dwell on it for now, though. You should rest after proceeding up the stairs. Just explain the entire situation to the others when you get there.**

_“Alright, you can come.”_

Weiss makes a surprised noise. Yang glares at you. You quickly set up continue your sentence.

_“But at least one person will be watching you. And you’re leaving us before we reach the peak.”_

Raven’s breath shaken a moment, you’re not quite sure why, and they nod.

_“Alright. You’re the leader, after all.”_

You nod, and all together, join the others. It takes some time to explain everything to these left behind -the hardest part being preventing them from attacking your new ally before you have a chance to talk. In the end, everyone is a bit wary about Raven, but seems to trust your judgment. Good. Your head hurts, and you weren’t in the mood to argue.

In other news, they had set up a camp while you were talking. They’d even found the next rulestone.

Welp. Time to rest.

If you have anything to do or say to/with one of your teammate, now is the time.


	111. 107

**> : Hey Raven? … Please… tell me about my mom?…**

Your voice is shaky, hopeful, scared, and full of a hundred other emotions, when you say that.

Their brows rise, then knit together, before a smile grows on their face.

And then, they speak.

When you go to sleep this night, it's with a head full of awkward high school stories and adult shenanigans.

**>  draw the next card**

Next morning is as boring as usual. You eat, you drink, you stretch, you kiss hello to your girlfriends, you notice everyone being wary of Raven, you check out for any potentially new animal parts, you drink again to ease your dizziness, and you reach the next rulestone.

Keeping your new teammate next to you, you activate it, keeping an eye on them. You trust them, but you’re not stupid; this would be the best moment to attack you. You won’t let your team get hurt. Not again.

                                _Don’t be fooled, it isn’t thunder_

_Staying here would be a blunder._

And the ground begins to quake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> choo choo motherfucker


	112. 108

**>  Don’t worry! Nora’s a flying type now so she should be unaffected by Earthquake. As always, stairs people stairs! This really should be the default answer whenever a card is drawn.**

You turn your head. Turn your whole body. Add a few turns to the mix, just to be sure.

And then you start panicking.

There are no stairs.

**>  RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

You want to. You really do. But you can’t. You have nowhere to run this time. For a split second, the downing realization that you’re all completely screwed fall on to you, and you lose all your ways.

Then Raven screams.

_“On the ground! On the ground! It’s the train!”_

You don’t have the time to follow her orders, nor to ask for further informations. In fact, you don’t have the time to do much.

The ground explode first.

You fall hard on something metallic and solid, dizzy, confused, ears suddenly full of a loud roaring sound you vaguely identify as belonging to an engine, and a cold wind slapping your face. 

A loud laugh resonates in the air.


	113. 109

**>  Whelp, Ruby, you’re on a train now. It’s time you became the train driver you always wanted to be. This means you need to to the front car, kick the ass of whoever’s in there, and then wear their hat. Of course, that’d be stupid, what with your knowledge of Raven and your current track record against these guys (Current score: Other team: 3 You Guys: 0). So, for now, take stock, and put the “Kick ass and take hats” plan towards the back of your mind.**

Sometimes, you deeply wonder if everything on that mountain isn’t somehow also an hallucinogen.

**>  Head count! Make sure everyone’s still here and pinpoint whoever’s laughing.**

You get on your elbows with difficulties, your hair flying wildly. It seems like you are on… A train??

You quickly look around -and let out a wince; your headache, along with the general dizziness and confusion, do not mix well with sudden movements. 

Everyone seems here, though. 

Nora and Weiss are tiny dots far behind you, but they’re still on the train. Blake, crouched on the floor, have a firm grip around Ren’s wrist, who’s in turn holding his jaw. Your sister and Jaune are roughly at your level, both sharing confused looks, large claw marks in front of Yang’s hands -you guess she’ll never have troubles holding on something again, though it makes you slightly worry about just _how tough_ are her claws. Further in front of you, Pyrrha is on her four, looking around, and next to her, staggering, but somehow standing up, sword drawn, there is Raven.

And even further, standing in a white coat, laughing with a ridiculous hat and waving a cane, there is someone. 

Oh bother.


	114. 110

**>  is Ren okay? What about everyone else? Keep an eye on mr. hat while you check on who you can.**

_“IS EVERYONE OKAY?”_

You don’t hear well all the answers, due to the wind, but it sounds so. Nobody sounds like they are about to die, anyway.

**>  Okay, hat: Located. We’re on the right track. Yell that pun out as loud as you can, by the by. Also, reflect on the fact that you didn’t think to ask Raven about the OTHER pawns, and how that knowledge would’ve really come in handy. Now, we’ve got the hat located, look at it closely. Isn’t it a nice hat? Wouldn’t you look awesome in it? Let the one true hat rule you. Also, look around the train, keep an eye on hatguy over there, and try to see how you’re supposed to get to the next card.**

_“I THINK WE’RE ON THE RIGHT TRACKS!”_

You can easily imagine the groans they’d make if they could hear you.

You look around, trying to understand how you’re supposed to get the next card, completely ignoring the hat. It looks ridiculous. You’d raher wear a goat on top of your head.

..The train seems to climb up the mountain instead of stairs. It’d be good, not having to walk all these stairs and all, if it didn’t mean that whoever is that hat dude is climbing with you. No trapping anyone downstair this time.

Donger.

**>  As fun and epic as fighting on top of a train is, you remember that real life doesn’t work nearly as well. Look for a hatch down into the cars and take the fight inside! At least then you don’t have to worry about getting knocked off the train. Raven might need help since boss characters always somehow get weaker once they join the main party so be ready to rush to her and assist.**

You would, but…

If you have a chance to fall off the train, doesn’t that mean that this dude does, too?

To be frank, you’re not sure you’ll be able to beat him inside. Not without your whole team with you -and you’re too scattered to get all together quickly.

**>  Here’s the plan.  KNOCK HAT MAN OFF THE GOD DAMN TRAIN.  Also have Zwei look for the exit.  Corgi baby always seems to find his way there.  
**

You are _so_ doing that.

**>  Check to see Raven’s reaction, then ATTACK!**

While you were checking on your surroundings, Raven had already sprinted toward the man and engaged the fight, blade against cane.

You decide to join her. Zapping toward her was difficult, but you still manage to make it first -weirdly, all of those near or in front of you seems to have even more troubles staying balanced than you. Maybe it’s the tail?

You don’t have the time to ponder about it, anyway. Because you just landed next to two persons fighting, and the glimpse of conversations you’ve caught are deeply confusing you.

_“..ne crazy Raven?! You know what will happen if you- how on earth did you get here??”_

_“Ruby??”_

They both sounds surprised. Oh. Right. You never told Raven about your power. Guess it’s surprising. As surprising as seeing to people fighting and talking at the same time, you’d say.

 _“I’m here to help!”_ You answer, just as Hatdude violently pushes on his cane and jump backward, quickly getting away from the both of you.

_“You’re on their side??”_

There isn’t even surprise in the redhead’s statement. More like… Disbelief.

Your ear flickers at the sharp sound of iron hitting iron, and turn your head to see that Raven had dropped her weapon, and- w _hat on earth is going on with their eyes._

_“Sorry, Ruby. But nothing can help me anymore.”_

What happens next is too fast for you to react -or rather, you’re too confused to react on time; you could have done something, _anything_. You see Raven running, and Hatdude raising his cane. You see the two collides, and you hear the unmistakable sound of a gunshot. You see something red slowly appearing on Raven’s clothes

And you see them both fall down the train.


	115. 111

**>  Quick! Rush to the side to see if you can spot them! Pick up Raven’s sword before getting there in case hat-cane survived and you need to finish the job. Also… vaguely wonder who is driving this train and where is it heading towards… hopefully not a wall.**

No times! You already have your scythe, anyway.

You run, run, and scream.

_“RAVEN!”_

But there’s nobody to hear you, and nobody to see anymore.

**>  Oh.  Raven was probably about to turn into one of those boney things.  There was nothing you could do.  Return to the others.  Prepare to jump in case the train decides to crash into a wall.**

Makes sense. You still feel bad, though. There was probably something you could have done. Anything.

(Deep down, you knew there wasn’t, but this only makes you feel worse.)

You return to the others, carefully, and explain with as few words as possible what happened. You don’t really feel like talking now.

After debating a bit -well, mainly the others, you don’t speak much- you all decide to stay on the roof, in case the train run into something it shouldn’t and you need to jump/ However, this precaution prove itself unnecessary when the train starts to slow down after a dozen minutes to eventually stop.

You feel dizzy.


	116. 112

**>  Regroup. Mourn Raven, but you might not be finished with the card yet. Look for stairs, then leave a grave. Look around a bit once you’re safe, and see how far up the mountain you are. Be optimistic; you’re probably almost home!**

You would. But it crosses your mind that you may not be done with the card yet, so you ignore the numbness and jump down the train, looking around.

There is nothing.

You take a few steps.

Still nothing.

A few others.

_….Here._

You approach, carefully. This doesn’t seem like a threat, even if it’s definitively unusual. Actually, it looks…

It looks like a rulestone.

You frown. Rulestones don’t usually glow red, do they?

You keep approaching, wary as ever, the others following you, until you’re close enough to read what’s written.

                                 _A rule of the game had been broken_

_Don’t say you didn’t know this would happen_

Oh _crap_.


	117. 113

**> crapcrapcrapcrapcrap**

You wouldn’t say it better.

**>  Remind yourself of The Rules. Which did you break? Do you know any of the possible consequences? Above all, stay alert and prepare yourselves for whatever may come now**

You quickly order the others to form a protective circle, mind racing faster than the wind. What rule had been broken? There wasn’t that many in the beginning. Let’s see… If you’re down to one, you loose, to draw a card, touch the stone, run toward the stairs….

You think, and think, but you don’t see anything you did wrong. And time pass, and pass, but nothing happens.

**>  Mind your feet, mind your surroundings, the rules of the game have changed, be ready for anything. Shout an order to be ready and watchful to the rest of your team, and mentally prepare yourself for anything, such as being sent back to the bottom of the mountain, or something worse. The rules of the game have changed, you’re going into new territory blind.**

That’s true. Though…

Wouldn’t anything have happened by now?

_“Ruby?”_

Pyrrha is the first one to voice out loud her thoughts.

_“I think… We should rest. Keep wary, but we can’t stay awake and combat ready forever. Settle a couple of us on watch in case something go false, and gather strength.”_

She got a point. You see why she used to be Ren and Jaune’s leader.

_What do you decide to do?_


	118. 114

**> Consider this: Maybe it wasn’t you who broke the rules. Whatever happened to Raven, after all? Either way, for now, set up a watch. You, Blake, and Weiss on first watch, 3 person shifts for the next 8 hours or so so everyone can sleep a bit. Keep an eye out, keep your ears open, wait for something to happen. Also, angrily mutter that you didn’t break any rules, and if it wasn’t a rule you could have known about, then the damn game should have told you about it, and it’s the one at fault.**

This’d make sense. You hope they…

Actually, you don’t know what you hope for them. No pains, probably. You don’t know.

You don’t know.

_“We didn’t break any rules..”_

Anger isn’t a feeling you are familiar with, but it was dripping from your words like poison on a spear.

“You’re right, Pyrrha. Let’s rest.”

You take the first shift, along with the monochrome duo. The rest of the day -and that night that followed- is tense, and yet boringly eventless. You can, however, properly rest, which is never something you’d complain about.

**>  Perhaps you can search the train? Might have clues or other things you can use. If most of the group is tired, then you should rest up while taking turns keeping watch first.**

This time, instead of going directly to the next card as soon as everyone’s on their feet, you head toward the train. You’re not quite sure what you’re looking for, but hey… Who knows. Maybe you’ll find interesting stuff.

Unfortunately, you don’t. This train is, oddly, a perfectly normal trains, the only usable thing you’ve found being paper bags and a solid dozen of hats. Talk about usefulness.


	119. 115

**>  Everyone put on a hat**

You feel some weird satisfaction in tearing off these stupid-ass hats in order to let your ears, horns or antlers fit in them. You all look ridiculous in the end, but nobody seems to mind.

**>  Hats. Look over every hat carefully. Pick out one for each of your group. If there’s a bowler hat among them, wear it. Take all the hats out, and show them to everyone, let them pick out their favorites. Also, do keep this in mind: End game is approaching. You may very well die soon, or somebody might. It might be time to get your affairs in order, figure out what you want your last words to everyone to be.**

… You have a point. You peek out of one of the train’s windows, looking for the pick. The end is near. You can feel it. In your bones.

_“Guys.”_

An ear flicker, a hat is torn off, and they all look at you.

_“I just…”_

You hate that feeling. When you know what you think, you know what you want to say, but you don’t know how to translate it into words.

_“.. We’re close to the end, you know.”_

They do. You all do.

_“And in case… Something, happens…”_

_“I want you to know..”_

Your vision starts to go blurry, tears barely held back.

_Please don’t die._

_I’m sorry I’d been such a terrible leader._

_I’m sorry you all got hurt._

_I hope we’ll see each others when we’re back._

_“It’d been a wild ride.”_

_“Thank you for everything.”_

_“I love you all.”_

Seven pairs of arms and a corgi wrap themselves around you.

You hate this place. You hate this game. You hate what you’d became, what you’ve done, the pain you’ve all been through. But, in all frankness… You’re glad you got to meet them. You’re glad it was them.

They are worth all the fighting, you think.

\- - -

When eventually, you all leave the train and stand in front of the next rulestone, which stopped glowing, you are all ready.

_“Together?”_

It’s Weiss, standing by your side. You nod at her.

_“Together.”_

And you both touch the cold rock.

                        _No traps this time, player. You should take time to rest_

_Next card drawn will be your final test_


	120. 116

**>  End Game. Rest. Recuperate. Reflect. Prepare. If there’s a plan you need to think of, or some eventuality you haven’t thought of, do it now. Don’t think that you’ll win because you’ve made it this far. These challenges, save for the last two, have been getting harder and harder. You’ll live or die by your own skills. If there’s anything you need to say, say it now. Go over everyone’s contact information in your head. You’re almost home, Ms. Rose. You’ll be free soon enough.**

You do. You normally wouldn’t take that much time resting, -almost a whole week!- but if the game gives you a break, it’s probably for a good reason. If the next card is the last one, it’ll probably also be the hardest of all. You can’t afford being anything but at your very best for it.

If you survive, it’ll be over. 

If you survive, you’ll be home.

~~You don’t think about which one of you would be trapped here if you lost.~~

**>  Let’s do this thang!**

You double check your weapons. Stretch. Recite a last time in your head everyone’s contacts info. Drop anything unnecessary -food, water, everything. Hug a last time your teammates.

And you draw the card.

_To seize the future, defeat the past_

_Whether it is by being strong or fast_

The stairs that appear lead straight to the top, this time.

And there are figures standing on the steps.

It’s time.


	121. 117

**>  Can you see who they are? It’ll be bad if they’re the baddies from before. Come on guys! We’ve come this far together! We’ll finish this all together!**

You can’t see them well

But these are not figures you’d forget easily.

**>  take a closer look at the figures and evaluate them, use this to decide whos fighting who.**

You would. You really do.

But a loud roar resonates from the stairs, and the figures starts running toward you. Fast.

Thinking time’s up.

**> Defense, see what we’re dealing with, be ready to move and quickly, be ready to strike them down if you have too. They’ll burn before you do.**

**>  Don’t rush. Just… head up the stairs. Have your weapon at the ready. Let’s do this.  
**

_“Guys! Defense!!!”_

They all make approval noises, the pairs setting up back to backs, with the obvious exceptions of Zwei and the Renoras. 

_You’re ready._

The first thing to reach you rushing toward your group with red eyes and bared teeth, is a bonethingy- the bear from the first card, you think. Its claws are sharp and its back covered of spikes, eyes red, growling threateningly.

A few weeks ago, it would have terrified you.

You barely pay attention to it as your scythe sink into its neck, focused on the human foes. These are way more dangerous than the mindless mooks.

You hear a snarl, a hiss, and an explosion. You quickly turn your head to see Yang and Blake using their powers to trap the bicolored person who’d attacked your sister earlier. The blonde’s eyes are bright red, her face fierce and determinate, translating clearly what she must be dying to yell at the enemy’s face.

_Not this time._

Another sound makes you want to look the other way, but Weiss calls you first.

_“Stop looky around and help me!”_

You nod, and follow her as she runs toward the closest foe -a lady in a dress throwing flames around that graze the other fighters more than once, while seemingly having difficulties dealing with a constantly-dodging Ren and a flying Nora.

You both run, but you abruptly have to stop as _something_ you’ve never seen before lands in front of you with strength. 

In a nutshell, it looks like a giant version of the birdthingies you’ve seen before -same mask, same wings, same dark feathers and sharp claws.

In a nutshell.

Because the snarling thing in front of you holds itself on two legs, wearing torn off clothes you know too well and presenting eyes that certainly doesn’t belong to a monster.

_“Raven?”_


	122. 118

**>  Don’t let your guard down just because it’s Raven BUT TRY TO CONVINCE HER TO ATTACK YOUR ENEMY BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE BADASS.**

_“Rav-”_

There's a loud roar, and  _the thing_ launches itself at you.

**>  Not Raven. Used to be Raven, not anymore. Don’t hesitate. Strike her down. It’s for the best, for both of you. She’s mindless now. This is mercy. After you’ve done this, help Weiss. The end is just past these fools who failed to kill you the first time. Show them how big a mistake that was.**

Your body moves by itself before you have the chance to think, your head filling with a pulsing pain similar to the headaches you had lately. Your scythe meet the creature’s arm, drawing blood -but not cutting them off as you discover with horror that you wanted to be.

 _“I’m sorry.”_ You whisper in the wind.

But you know they can’t understand you anymore.

You rush forward and attack again.

The entire battle field is a mess. Screams and explosions resonate everywhere, fire and lost bullets from the other battles frequently grazing you or projecting dust and rock around. Weiss quickly join you again against Raven, and your whole team is fighting at their very best -you see it in the eyes, hear it in their shouts. But.. in all frankness…

You’re not sure you’re going to make it.

Traindude and the firelady, while kept busy with their own duo, never hesitate to shot quickly at whoever seemed to get slightly closer to the stair. Said firelady also, if left alone for more than mere seconds, tend to fill the entire battlefield in fire, forcing you to back up more than once -and Ren and Nora to never cease attacking. The bicolored shrimp, on the same vein, kept teleportating with the obvious intention to stab someone in the back, and is barely held back by the Bumblebees. It's the longest fight you’ve ever participated to, and your teammates are obviously starting to tire out. At the very least, it 's the same for your foes.

All, except one.

No matter how many injuries you inflict them - _it_ -, and there are a lot of them considering that, unlike the human foes, it doesn’t bother trying to avoid your blows, it never stop attacking, never even slow down. Pain and exhaustion seem to be completely foreign to it now, still snarling and striking no matter the amount of blood drawing from its wound.

You are not sure if your team will make it, but you are sure that this battle won’t be won.

Whether or not it is the case, you never get to see it.

Because at some point, in the heat of the battle, past the blood pounding in your ears and the deafening sound of another explosion, you hear Weiss calling for Yang -a simple detail, one you don’t pay attention to.

Then a glowing glyph appear under your feet, and you’re launched backward.

Your head is spinning, trying to register what just happened, but time seems to be something you are short on as two big, furry arms seize you and pick you up.

You only understand, too late, when you see the apologetic smile on your sister’s face as her grips tighten.

_“Yang, Yang no..”_

She doesn’t listen. You hate her for it. And the worst is, you understand; have you been the stronger and older one, you probably would have done the same to her.

She tosses you with enough strength to stop a truck.

Your landing is rough, and your headache increases immensely, but judging by the faraway sounds of battle and the blue under you, you seem to have landed on the stairs.

You swear you’re going to make the girls pay for that later.

~~You dearly hope they’ll be alive for you to.~~


	123. 119

**>  You could run. You could run up the stairs, get to the top of the mountain, let your team die so that you can survive. As one of those in betweeners, they who fight now. Do you want that? Who knows, maybe you’ll get lucky, maybe one of them will manage to get up the stairs, you can both go home. You just have to let the rest die. Do you want that? Or, there’s one last thing you can do. You can take advantage of this new position and turn the battle to your favor. Do you want that? If you want to run, to be safe, go to the top and wait. If you want to fight, here’s what you’re going to need to do. You have speed. Go as fast as you can, faster than they can see. Don’t bother fighting Raven, they aren’t human anymore, you don’t know how to kill them. The others, though, are still human, if only barely. And a human can’t survive without their head, now can they? You’re behind fire and train. Good luck, Ms. Rose. Aim for their throats.**

You let out a wince at the sudden pain going through your brain. Your head fills itself with visions of what you could do, if you got back, if you picked up the scythe you’d dropped flying, if you aimed at the heads. You think your body is shaking, but you don’t move yet.

_You still have the choice._

**> Get to the finish, if your partner is still alive you both get out right?**

You turn your head toward the battle. The fight is still raging. But the rules seemed to have changed; instead of being a fight to stop your team to go forward, now it looks like a fight to stop the Betweeners to reach you.

You turn your head toward the top of the mountain. It’s close, closer than you’ve ever been before. This is probably a one-time opportunity.

You make your choice.

You really, really hope one reaching the top is enough to save the whole team.

\- - -

It’s cold.

It’s the first thing you register once you stop running. You’re panting, shaking, but there’s no time to lose; each second lost could also be a life lost.

In front of you, sit against a large rock, there is a girl.

She looks peaceful, almost sleeping; she has red, curly hair, a freckled skin, a pink bow in one hand…

Except she isn’t a girl.

Her left side, showing metal under scattered skin and destroyed wires, proves you so.

Slowly, the girls open her eyes, light flickering weakly in them- and raises an arm. Or tries to, anyway. Something seems to go wrong, judging by the sudden electricity coming out of the broken wires. After a couple more attempts, she gives up and raises her other arm with jerky, unsure movements. For a second, you think she’s trying to attack, but.. It’s obvious that her intentions aren’t aggressive.

Actually, it almost looks like she wants to shake hands.

_Shake hands?_


	124. 120

**>  shake hands.**

**>  Well, Ruby, moment of truth. This is it. Shake her hand. You’re going to be home, hopefully, when you do. The sky will be familiar, you’ll recognize the air, you’ll be home, and free, with no more of those monsters behind you. And everyone will be safe, hopefully, and you’ll be able to fix that bike from the start of all this. You’ll be free. This has been one great adventure, with it’s ups and downs, but if you could go back and not go at all, would you? Well, there’s one last thing.**

Your hands clasp against the opened one

And the pain in your head _explodes_.

The pain is barely bearable, the whole world turning blank to your eyes. The ground give up under your feet, and you fall. 

Maybe you scream. You don’t know. No sounds can reach your ears anymore, due the deafening screams around you - orders, advices, _suggestions_ \- all addressing you, only you, and you don’t know why you don’t understand -

Out of all the voices, one stand out. Maybe this one was more recent. Maybe it was just louder than the others. You don’t know. You don’t care.

**>  If this is the last chance I get to say it, I just want you to know: I’m going to miss being one of the voices in your head. But I’m glad you get to go home. Good luck, Ms. Rose. I’m rooting for you, whatever may come.**

A few tears escape your eyes when you finally understand. A last thought crosses your mind, yours and only yours, rolling on your tongue and getting muttered in this void, despite knowing that nobody will ever hear it.

_“Thank you all, for keeping us alive..”_

_\- - -  
_

Her backs hits a familiar ground with a thud.

A young girl is laying on her back on a familiar ground. A few minutes ago, she was fighting for her life and trying to save her whole crew. Now, staring at a dusty ceiling next to a broken bike, she knows exactly where she is.

Her name is RUBY ROSE and she is no longer you.


	125. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suddenly Taiyang

_“You’re sure your going to be okay?”_

Despite being the third time you’ve asked this question, Ruby only smile and tells you that yes, they will be. Next to her, Yang raises both thumbs at you.

You still aren’t really convinced, but you guess you’ll have to deal with it.

In all frankness, you don’t trust these “internet friends” a lot. If it was only up to you, you’d at least ask to talk to them first before accepting to for them at the airport at six am.

But this isn’t about you.

Ruby is smiling brightly, a real smile for once, holding tightly a corgi against her -You don’t even know where is that thing from, it just happened to be _here_ and your daughters needed it and begged you and you couldn’t bring yourself to refuse. Your second daughter is too, playing with her pen -she’s, unfortunately, not able to sign yet.

It’s so good, to see them being so happy again, compared to seeing them looking around and getting startled at the lightest sound like anything would come out of a bench and attack them.

You’re cut from your thoughts by a bark, quickly followed by a second, louder one.

_“It’s them! It’s them!”_

You’re… definitively surprised by what you see. 

There is a boy, tall, rather handsome if you ask yourself, pushing a wheelchair.

There is a girl, in said wheelchair, babbling with haste in a language you do not recognize.

There is a blonde and there is a redhead, the former walking funny and the latter having a large scar across her cheek.

There is a person in black and a person in white, one with a mark you’d recognize everywhere on their left arm -the same mark Yang have on her throat- and the other with another across her eye.

And when they all start laughing and hug each others, the dog yelping in happiness and your daughters so _bright_ , you understand.

Whatever happened to your daughters, also happened to them.

Whatever your daughters went thought, it was _with_ them. 

And, now, you aren’t that upset that they keep lying to you and pretend they’d forgotten what had happened- because they aren’t alone to share this burden.

Perhaps, you think, getting up so early to run to meet these people wasn’t so much of a bad idea, after all.

They are good people, you know it.

They are worth all the running.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You’ve done it; you’ve reached the end
> 
> Thank you for everything, my friend
> 
> ( Play again? )

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to thank every single person who participated to this quest back when it was still going.  
> Fanarts: http://theverseslidingquest.tumblr.com/tagged/art  
> regular blog: versegm.tumblr.com


End file.
